Lessons To Learn
by AriArlene
Summary: Something unexpected happens to the Guardians of Childhood but they don't know it yet. Someone they can't see, once an enemy, is their only hope of returning to their world, one they don't even remember and can only dream exists. With Jack caring for them will their belief be enough to bring them home? Main Characters- Jack, the Big Four and Pitch.
1. Chapter 1-Discovery

**Discovery**

The living room was an uninhabitable wreck, the kitchen looked like a messy food tornado had hit and the smell of various unsavory things hung in the air causing them to scrunch up their noses. He ruffled through the closet in the hall for the last bit he hadn't already gathered up and shoved into the family's van which was, thankfully, now his. He had the small dinky, run-down old car he had bought through working all those years in middle school under the table and all through high school still, but he had managed to get it sold the week before. Now the silver-blue sedan was much more suited to his task.

He was accepted to Burgess University in the school of Graphic Design, thinking maybe advertisement was the way to go, and now there he was, moving to the small apartment he had rented last month. Small hitch in all of this was his younger siblings. Even had his parents been alive there was no way he was leaving them there. He had been supporting them before, no reason he should stop now. Plus there was that he loved them to pieces, that didn't hurt.

True they were despicable in the worst way, but they were still their parents and the younger kids still loved them. Not wanting to break that image for them a bit longer he had cautioned Aster, the oldest at nine, not to talk down about them for a little while. He could complain to Jack, that was it.

He had dreaded telling them but they had handled it better than he thought they would. When he had picked all of them up from school that day he had taken them to the park, got them something to eat and sat them down for story time;

_"Alright, alright, you wanna hear a story?" He had asked them, bouncing little Sandy on his knee because he was, once again, threatening to fall asleep on him. Sandy giggled his silent little giggle and clapped his approval. _

_"Yeah!" Came the chorus of excited voices, even Aster who typically grumped at everyone. Sometimes Jack managed to get him to be a happy, normal nine-year-old but he seemed to have so much baggage for someone so young. He insisted there was no reason for it and Jack left it alone._

_"Okay. Have I ever told you the story of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys?" He asked. They had shaken their heads no, just because none of them were old enough to remember that he had told them this story many, many times when they were younger than Sandy, in turn as they each came around. It was his favorite._

_He had gone through the entire story before anyone said anything._

_"Where were his parents?" Anna asked. Jack's stomach clenched because he knew that question would come up, he had intended it to, but that didn't make it easier. It helped that he didn't like their parents, to put it lightly, but he knew the little ones did. Sandy looked up at him, mirroring Anna's question in his eyes._

_He took a deep breath before trying to speak._

_"They had to leave him, it wasn't really their fault though. They hand't wanted to either, but Peter didn't mind." He explained._

_"Why didn't Peter mind?" Nick asked, clearly confused._

_"Because he knew they were happy, and he had his Lost Boys to take care of, so he had a family to take care of." He offered. They all nodded like they understand._

_They were all a bit more subdued at that point and that's when he decided to break the news. Sandy, by far the most intuitive six-year-old he had ever seen, snuggled into him and looked up like he was asking what was wrong._

_"Now remember that story, okay? Keep it in mind, because I have something important to tell you. It's not a happy thing, but you need to know." He provided, never one to protect them, but always trying to be delicate._

_"What is it Jack?" Tooth squirmed in worry. Aster had taken that moment to pull his baby sister and brother up under his arms, the sharp boy knowing where this must have been going._

_"Well, mom and dad, they...they aren't with us anymore." He provided quietly, then waited with his breath caught in his throat. He didn't want to have to tell them this, but they would figure it out sooner or later and he'd rather it be with him. _

_The faces he was greeted with, Sandy's included, just about broke his heart. They started to cry and he almost cried with them. He and Aster were actually the only two not bothered because he knew what their parents were like, and he didn't like it one bit. He was holding onto Anna and Nick, Jack had Sandy buried in his sweater and they stayed like that for a long time._

Excited giggles and tugging on his t-shirt snapped his thoughts back to the present.

"Come on Jack! Let's go we've got everything!" Aster was more than ready to leave the dump they had called a home for so many year to see their new one.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Nick agreed, pulling on his shirt.

"Easy, we need to be sure we've got everything, don't we? You don't wanna have to take a second trip now, do you?" Jack asked. Sandy shook his head with a little frown, Jack had to chuckle. "See, Sandy gets it." He observed.

"Yeah Anna, Nick, if Sandy gets it we should too." Aster agreed, siding with his big brother most days just to make the dynamic a little smoother. Jack always appreciated the next-oldest taking his side, and usually found ways to tell him so, but at the moment all he could manage was a grateful look.

"Right Aster, would you make sure Sandy and Anna have everything?" He asked of the nine-year-old. Aster nodded, his blonde hair falling over his green eyes as he did. Jack made a mental note to get the kid a haircut soon.

The little, equally platinum blonde seven-year old Anna in the bright blue skirt and purple shirt she insisted upon wearing today was bouncing around, excited to see Jack's new home, and theirs. Jack mused that he could be moving into a cardboard box and she would still be thrilled because it belonged to them, all by themselves.

"What about Nick?" He asked as he herded them to their old room to get everything.

"I've got it." He waved him on.

Nick looked up at him questioningly.

"Okay, let's go double-check everything bud." He urged as he started walking toward where Nick's room had been. He had shared with Aster, the two being a bit more manly-man types and refusing to have their room tainted with any of the 'girly' stuff Anna liked. So, Sandy and Jack had shared with her. Sandy didn't mind much of anything, being six and Anna wasn't too much trouble, being seven so it was fairly easy to handle. Aster usually just sat on Nick when he was being difficult, so they generally killed trouble before it started. He had it easy and he knew it.

Sandy, at only six, was the youngest and by far the sleepiest. Anna had tried to pick the poor sleepy boy up but almost fallen over. He heard her grunt in frustration and made his way around Nick and across the hall to check on her.

"He asleep again?" He asked. Anna nodded.

"Yeah, he just fell over. Is something wrong with him?" She fretted like she had so many times before. Jack had to remind himself she was only seven, sometimes she was more anxious and flighty than he imagined a seven-year-old could be.

"Yeah Anna, he'll be fine. Come on buddy." He said as he hoisted up the little sleeping toddler. He was bright blonde, like Aster, but pale like Jack and he had the most oddly colored eyes. They were gold, bright gold. Sandy snuggled into Jack's shirt and Jack ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Nick? You got everything?" He called as he stuck his head in the door to check for himself. The walls were indeed bare, every single drawer left open to prove their emptiness and all the furniture that was too big or decrepit to move was freshly dusted to make it easier on the man who would be selling the place. He was counting on that income more than he cared to admit.

"I think so." He nodded. The heavyset boy looked so odd in the group of thin, small children but he had the same sense of humor. How he had become the only family member with black hair was also a bit beyond them, although he and Jack shared the same bright blue eyes.

"Alrighty then, to the van!" He called enthusiastically, not bothering to worry about Sandy being asleep. The kid could sleep through a nuclear bomb.

"Yay!" Anna cheered, bouncing and tugging on his sleeve. "We're gonna see Jackie's house!"

"It's our new house." Jack corrected.

"But you're the one payin' for it." Aster pointed out.

"But it's our home. Just 'cause the parents pay for it doesn't mean the children don't live there, does it?" He asked.

"He's right!" Nick agreed, realizing a lot faster than the others what he was pointing out. He hadn't thought about it that way before.

They piled in the van, double checking that nothing was going to shift before setting off across town. Jack smiled bitterly, hoping the sight of their new home lived up to their dreams.

Sandy was nestled in the back between Anna and Nick, Aster in the was in the front and obviously Jack was driving. He pulled into the building's pristine parking lot and finally felt safe. He had done his research, he wasn't bringing them to any old run-down place, this was his family. He grinned madly at there excited calls at the sight of the big white building in front of them.

"We live there?!" Anna asked in disbelief, it was amazing compared to their old home. Jack nodded, brushing a hand through his white-blonde hair in his universal gesture for 'here we go' because now he had to unload everything. By hand.

"You bet we do. Come on, let's check it out." He enticed as he helped Sandy, Anna and Nick out of their belts and the car. They were all too small to go without boosters or car-seats as of yet so traveling was always interesting but he didn't mind. He and Aster had made a game of seeing how quickly they could get everyone in and out properly.

"How are we gonna get everything up there?" Aster asked knowingly. Jack smiled through all the frustration rolling in his gut about exactly that question.

"Well, a little at a time and very carefully." He provided. Aster rolled his eyes but smiled a little as he carried Sandy, Anna taking his hand. Jack herded Nick in front of him as they went in through the empty lobby and up to the second floor. He stopped them at their new door.

"Alright, here we are, ready?" Jack asked. The three still awake nodded in anticipation. "Here we are!" He swung the door open and the smiles and excited cheers he got made everything worth while.

**Okay, so I'm thinking about having Sky make an appearance in here (A self-made character from my one-shot collection), what do you guys think? Let me know how you're feelin' about this so far, the good the bad and the...well hopefully not the ugly, but at least the good and the bad. As usual you are wonderful people, and thanks for reading! :)**


	2. Chapter 2-The long haul

**The long haul**

When the door swung open the three he wasn't carrying swarmed through and started to explore like it was the yellow-brick-road running through Disneyland on Christmas. It was simple, no bigger than their old home with a living room/kitchen that was separated by an island, a short hallway with a bathroom and two bedrooms, and a storage/hall closet. Nothing too fancy, or extravagant but to them it was a palace. Jack marveled at the joy radiating through the small home they would now share and decided that this mental picture would keep him going.

That thought in mind he mentally groaned at the thought of bringing everything upstairs. They didn't have much and the place was already furnished, but they did have quite a bit more than he would be able to carry by himself very quickly. He settled them on the couch and, after giving the don't answer the door if it's not me mini-speech, headed back down to get a load of the more important things. TV, food, blankets, you know the essentials. Gotta have popcorn and movies!

It took him so many trips he lost count but having brought up board games and having Aster unpack as he brought things up everything went much more smoothly than he thought it would. Granted his shins had taken a beating on the stairs and he thought he'd never be able to move his fingers again but it was worth it. They had all summer to settle in before school started again and he had done quite a clever thing. Anna was the first to discover his sneaky little trick.

"Hey, we're across from the school!" She called the others as they were setting up the bigger things like the TV. (Jack was setting it up, the others were watching.)

"What? Aw man." Nick grouched playfully.

"Hey, but now we don't have to get up as early!" Aster lit up as he figured that out. Not only that but Jack worked at the convenience store that was also visible about a half a block from the school. He was fairly proud of himself for that. They would be able to walk just about everywhere so gas was almost a non-issue. Granted Burgess University campus was four blocks to the east but he didn't need to run all over it, just the arts and languages college building which was on the edge of campus. Plus he didn't have to be in his first class that semester until nine and they went to three, letting the four of them stay for the after-school program and giving him time to pick them up. Then he would work 5-9 on Tuesday and Thursday, a midnight to eight shift that paid double on Saturday and he had the weekend off.

Thankfully his scholarships covered tuition, the selling of his car and their parent's house was giving him a nice chunk and all his parent's ill-gotten money went straight to him, and their business had been good. Granted the authorities knew it was bad money but they'd been trying to prove it for years and they knew Jack needed it so they gave it to him, along with the money he had gotten from the whole government-help program. Essentially he was on food-stamps.

He slapped Aster a high-five and smiled, essentially soaking up that he had managed this, for them. He had done it! Plus he was going to get a degree and a real job, he was convinced he couldn't have done better. Plus his baby brothers and sister were elated and he couldn't have been more pleased by that if he tried.

"Alright, who wants dinner?" he asked, having already set up all they had where it was needed they were all wiped and more than hungry. The general consensus reminded Jack of the saying 'don't feed them after midnight'.

"Okay, okay, what do we want?" He asked, shuffling through the cabinets, unsure where he had put everything not an hour before. He was going senile at eighteen, he was convinced.

"Mac and Cheese!" Anna squeaked.

"But we had that last night." Nick whined. "We just moved, why don't we have something different?" He asked hopefully.

"What does that mean, what kind of different?" Jack asked suspiciously.

"Pizza!" Anna offered. Sandy nodded in whole-heated agreement. Jack considered it highly, the greasy treat sounding amazing, he had the money and they HAD just accomplished a major life-goal...

"Alright, pizza it is." Jack agreed. There was cheering, silent and otherwise, to go with their mirth. Sure his wallet ached when he paid for the three pepperoni pizzas they ordered but he hardly noticed the knot in his stomach when he turned around to four very happy faces. He snagged a few napkins for them in lieu of plates. Why would he want to do the dishes so soon?

"So what do we wanna watch?" Jack asked, folding his legs up under him on the old sofa.

"Cartoons!" Anna squealed causing the boys to collectively roll their eyes, aside from Sandy who was clapping in agreement.

"Alright, alright." Jack said a silent thank-you to any deity that happened to be listening for him not forgetting to hook up the cable before they moved. By the time they had finished their pizza the sun was going down but Jack decided that Summer should be less deadlines and more letting them drop like flies, at least until a little before school started. They did have to get into a schedule.

Watching them periodically fall asleep and wake back up was the most precious thing he had ever seen, and right about then he felt like his life had clicked. He wondered briefly at how odd this picture was. He looked more like a dad than a brother but that was okay by him. He felt more like a parent to them anyway, only he was still their cool older brother and while most people wouldn't think so it made his life easier. He could keep up with them and his lack of smothering made them come to him more than he had to seek them out. Plus they'd always come to him before their parents anyway, now they didn't have to worry about anyone but him.

Not that they were angels. Far from it, but they weren't exactly horrid children. By most standards they were amazingly well-behaved if only because Jack gave them enough slack that they didn't feel the need to 'rebel' because usually he'd be doing it with them.

As he fell asleep Anna and Sandy snuggled into him, still covered in all manner of pizza sauce and dust. Nick was in his own armchair, not that he was all that big, and Aster was on the love-seat. It was the perfect temperature in their for blankets thanks to their amazing AC/Heating system (He had done his homework after all.) so they were comfortable all night.

He was the first one up in the morning, noting the need for curtains, ASAP, and the faint smell of old pizza that now filled the little place, making it more like home. He internally groaned as he stretched. Sandy and Anna didn't make any moves to wake up but Aster's eyes opened the moment he budged.

"You up already?" He asked the sleepy kid at a whisper.

"I heard you get up." He explained.

"I didn't even make a sound." Jack protested.

"Yeah you did, I heard the couch squeak." He explained. Jack shook his head and repressed a little laugh.

"I swear you have GOT to have super-human hearing." He teased as Aster stretched out and started to automatically help pick up napkins and throw out the old boxes.

"You keep saying that, but I think you guys can't hear well." Aster persisted.

"Nope, you're secretly a superhero." Jack insisted quite seriously. "I'm onto you." He teased as he caught him in a headlock, giving him a huge nuggie.

"Jaaaaack!" Aster protested, the smaller boy managing to wake the sleeping giant of the family, who was only a giant because at seven he was more muscle and height that Aster, but not quite Jack's build yet.

"You woke Nick." Jack threw his hands up in playful frustration.

Nick hobbled over still half-asleep and plopped down at the kitchen table in an attempt to wake himself up.

"What're we havin' for breakfast?" Aster asked, causing Nick to wake up a little more.

"Well I'll figure that out if you'll go get Sandy, Anna and Nick" He gave Nick a pointed look as he had a line of pizza sauce on his face, "cleaned up, yourself included. I'm gonna change then we'll figure it out."

"Okay, come on, we should go change." Aster eyed Nick until he moved. Nick woke Anna up and Aster just carried Sandy because frankly he wasn't waking up until he had to.

After he changed and brushed his teeth he could hear the sounds of a mortal struggle in the bathroom of Sandy not wanting to change, or hold still for a bath. He chuckled to himself as he found all the things he needed to surprise them with pancakes. They didn't get them a whole lot before because he just didn't have money for the stuff and when he did, staying in the kitchen had been hazardous, at best. Now though, they could have more than one home-cooked meal a day and not worry. The sheer joy of standing in HIS kitchen making a REAL breakfast for them made his heart soar and a put a gigantic smile on his face.

Unknown to him someone was watching this whole scene play out in utter confusion and astonishment just outside the kitchen window. He couldn't have seen him if he tried but that was okay, he wouldn't have liked the sight anyway.

The tall, slender man in a black floor-length coat frowned at the happy group of 'siblings' as they readied themselves for their new life. Man in the Moon what was going on here? A moonbeam in the bright morning sky fell onto him and a deep voice called to him.

_"Observe and learn, for you have strayed from your path."_ The voice warned. The man who Jack would have known as the Boogeyman snarled up at the sky.

"Learn what, how insane you are? You've gone and made them mortal. When did this happen?" He asked. The man in the moon stayed silent. "I think I'm starting to realize why Frost never liked you." He muttered. What was he intended to learn from this? How stupid the man in the moon was? He had made his worst enemies more harmless than, well he supposed not more harmless than toddlers, as most of them were actual toddlers.

He figured there would be a catch though, so he decided to actually do what Mani suggested and 'observe' them. What was the worst that could happen?

**Thank you so much for reading, you are awesome! Let me know what you think so far, I'd love to make sure it's as fun for you to read as it is for me to write! :)**


	3. Chapter 3-Making Friends

**Making Friends **

"Alright guys, let's get a move on!" Jack clapped as they finished the delicious-ness that was blueberry pancakes. Sandy, of course, was dripping in syrup and in horrible need of a wipe down but he was, thankfully, the only casualty to the sugary syrup.

"Where we goin'?" Anna asked through the last bite of her breakfast.

"Mouth closed, Anna." Jack reminded.

"Sorry." She offered after she swallowed the bit of food.

"But where are we going?" Aster reiterated.

"Oh, we're going to the college today!" He said, exactly as excited as he sounded. "I need to pick up some textbooks and we're gonna stop by and introduce you guys to the daycare people, just in case." He explained over his shoulder as he started to rinse off their plates in the sink.

"You mean we're going to your school?" Nick asked in awe.

"You betcha." He borderline chuckled at their excitement. It was incredibly encouraging to say the least. It was really hard not to be excited about all he was about to attempt when they were so incredibly enthused about it too. He was going to be in college and taking care of them which seemed monumental but he was incredibly pumped because they fed his passion for it.

Once he was done with the dishes and he had wiped Sandy down for the second time within the hour he herded them out the door, making double sure everything was locked down and that he had his keys. When he marched them straight past their car he caught their confused faces and chuckled.

"Why aren't we driving?" Aster asked.

"Because walking is great exercise and it's not that far." He offered.

"But we never walked before." He insisted. Jack bit back the urge to tell him that they had been in a bad part of the city where walking would have gotten them shot before and opted for the more kid-friendly explanation.

"We never had a reason to walk before. Now we're close to everything and we can." He provided. That seemed to pacify the boy but not really make him any happier about the situation.

Frankly Jack's nerves were taking a pounding because now they were loose! The four of them romping about all over the sidewalk! He was certain Anna would give him a heart-attack yet. She had almost run into traffic twice on the same block, and Burgess didn't have big blocks. Aster had tried his best to keep a hold of her and Nick but they weren't having it.

"Alright, settle down or we won't be having ice cream later." Jack bribed. The difference was astonishing. They immediately fell into line like ducklings. He chuckled at the mental image and the speed they quieted down with. "That's what I thought." he nodded, content that they would behave.

Sandy was unconcerned about ice cream though, and wiggled out of Aster's grip to chase a butterfly.

"Sandy? Hey buddy come back here." Jack called the toddler who listened about as well as he spoke. "Sandy?" Jack tried, nothing. With a heavy sigh he took off after the boy, urging the others to follow close.

He scooped the little one up right before he entered the intersection.

"Jeeze, you're gonna scare me half-to death one day, you know that kiddo?" He asked as he ruffled his semi-messy blonde hair, frowning to get his point across. Sandy just gave him the 'I'm sorry' look and he let it go.

"Anna!" Aster yelled as he snatched his little sister away from the curb.

"What happened?" Jack spun to see her looking a bit shell-shocked.

"Almost wandered off the curb chasing Sandy's butterfly." Aster offered. "Don't do that sissy, you could get hurt." Aster admonished, scared for her as much as Jack was.

"Sorry Aster." She apologized while having a staring contest with her shoes.

"Hey, it's alright sis, just be more careful, alright?" She nodded and Jack let out a huge breath. Thankfully Nick still had his hand and Sandy was now snuggled into his shoulder. Aster hung onto Anna's hand and they made their way the other two of four blocks without incident.

"You'd think he'd be put off by all of this. It's a whole lot of responsibility and the boy's only eighteen." Pitch mused to himself as he watched them run around the big field on campus by the dining hall. Anna was again wearing a frilly skirt (purple and gold today) and a white shirt. She even looked like she use to as the Tooth fary. It was striking. Sandman hadn't changed much to be honest, and Pitch was shocked to find him...rather adorable. Nick was self-explanatory in Pitch's mind. Santa had always been over the top and even as a seven year old he was boisterous, loud and still wore a lot of red. He had to admit though, the lack of his Russian accent was throwing the nightmare king off a bit. Aster, or the Easter Bunny, was pretty much the same exact person made a little younger. It was almost as if he had all those jaded memories locked away in his mind somewhere.

The only one who seemed really different was Jack, only because he was much more hard-work and deadlines than his previous form had been. Pitch guessed it was his loss of memories that did it, but he was still inexplicably the same old guardian of fun he had been.

Something else puzzled him more than that change though, more than any of the changes and false memories the five seemed to have adopted. A change in himself.

He found himself cringing in horror as Anna almost jumped off the curb, or as Sandy wandered away. He wanted to snatch them all up and dump them back in the apartment Jack had rented where they would be safe. It was a small urge but it was there, and watching them play was not helping to squelch it.

When Jack led them all inside, keeping a tighter hold on the proverbial reigns because of their placement inside a store and knowing how that could go badly, he seemed to visibly tense. Of all the times to be worried, this was the least of them, Pitch thought sarcastically.

He watched like a hawk as little hands grabbed for knickknacks and children's books until they made the counter and he paid. They were out in, mercifully, much less time than he imagined and he hadn't paid as much as he thought he would. With that relief in mind he made straight for the daycare center.

"Hello, how can I help you?" A brunette woman in a bright silver shirt and black pants greeted them cheerfully at the front desk. She seemed genuinely happy with her job and Jack had half a second where he genuinely hoped he would be that happy one day. Her name tag read Cassandra Bennett and her hair was pulled up in a tight bun, he immediately felt like he knew her from somewhere but he couldn't place her.

"Oh, hi my name's Jack and these are my siblings. I called last week about enrolling them, you know, just in case?" he quizzed. She smiled brightly in recognition.

"Oh that's right! I remember, I'm who you spoke to, let me guess..." She looked between the siblings, trying to remember what he had said. "...the little one's Sandy." Jack nodded.

"Yep, can you wave to the nice lady Sandy?" Jack asked, the happy little boy squirmed around and waved excitedly at the new person who chuckled.

"Aww, hi there Sandy. How old are you?" She asked, having wandered back around the desk to greet them.

He held up enough fingers to say that he was six.

"Oh, that's right, you don't talk a whole bunch do ya?" She asked with a smile. Sandy shook his head shyly. "Well that's okay. Nice to meetcha." She ruffled his hair and he giggled silently. Mrs. Bennett suppressed her 'aww' in favor of a wider smile.

"Good boy, bud." Jack gave him a squeeze. "You're one for one." Jack cheered happily to the woman who he was instantly happy with leaving them with.

"Alright! Let's see if I can keep the streak alive, um...Anna?" She asked as she pointed at the little girl who was indeed Anna. She giggled from her spot behind Jack's leg.

"That's her alright." Jack confirmed.

"Hello Anna." Anna peeked around Jack shyly.

"Go on Anna, say hi." Jack prodded.

"Hi." She said softly, smiling at the woman but not coming any closer. Mrs. Bennett had knelt down to talk to her, which was likely why she had said even a word to her.

"Two for two!" He encouraged her.

"Alright!" She giggled. "Now...this must be Nick, and Aster?" She pointed in turn. Both boys nodded.

"Alright, hi there Nick." She greeted the other seven-year old.

"Hi Ms. Bennett." Nick greeted much more quietly than usual, reading her name tag as he did. She grinned.

"Well how old are you?" She asked.

"Me and Anna are seven." he informed her.

"Well that means you two will be in the grade I teach, right? You're gonna be in second grade this year?" She asked.

"Uh huh." He nodded.

"And what about you Aster? What grade are you in?" She asked.

"I'm nine, fourth grade this year." He informed.

"Cool, nice to meet you all. When will they be coming by, and do they need a bus?" She asked Jack who pondered that for a moment.

"Well, usually if they're not in school and I am, or if something odd happens." He said. They went to a back room where the four could play while they spoke. They hammered out all the details and they were set. They would be bused after school to the daycare and Jack could come get them before nine. That last part gave him pause though.

"But I'm going to be working from six to nine on Tuesdays and Thursdays." He informed her.

"Well...if you'd like I can take them to your home and you can meet me there." She offered. Jack froze, unsure.

"Oh, I...I don't know I don't want you to have to go out of your way..." He fiddled uncomfortably with the hem of his shirt.

"Hey, it's not a big deal. It's not out of my way from the address you've given and it's not as if you work later than we're open, you just can't get to them before we close. You'll already be off work, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, they're really good about lettin' me out when they're supposed to." He confirmed.

"Then it'll be no problem, and I have a son who's around Aster's age, if you ever need me to help you out." She offered. "I'd love to watch them."

"Really?" He asked, stunned.

"Absolutely, here." She handed him a business card. "Let me know if you need me to watch them anytime. Can you think of a time off-hand you might need to do work or something?" She asked, sensing she may have to pull it out of him. He sighed.

"Yeah, actually. I work midnight to eight am on Sundays and I had intended on letting Aster watch them a little, I mean they'd be asleep, but I know that's a bad idea..." He trailed off, embarrassed that he had been planning that at all.

"Jack? Why don't they stay over with me on Fridays?" She asked.

"Oh, I..." He looked between them and her uncertainly.

"Jack? I understand but I swear, they'll be safe. I actually live in the building." She explained.

"Really?" He asked. "So they could just...go down the hall?" He asked in shock. She nodded, clearly amused by his reaction.

"Right, I could bring them home and maybe, hey maybe I can just come over and nap on the sofa while you're gone?" She asked. "That way we don't need to wake them." He marveled at her stroke of genius.

"That's a great idea. I can't thank you enough." he semi-gushed.

"I don't mind, and you don't have to. Jack your 18 and from what I've seen and heard so far you could use the help, and you've more than earned it." She smiled.

After exchanging apartment numbers and numbers and emergency info he made sure they were all in on the situation and they made the trek home with plans to have dinner upstairs on the third floor with Mrs. Bennett and Jamie, her son. It was a Monday too, which meant Jack would be working but thankfully it was still summer so he didn't have to get up early.

He mulled this over as they settled down for lunch at their place and waited for Mrs. Bennett to knock on their door.

**Well this is my final update for the weekend, but with any luck I'll be able to get more up this week because there are two band trips this week and that means lots of face-time with my laptop. As usual let me know what you think! You're wonderful people! :)**


	4. Chapter 4-Dreams all around

**Dreams all around**

It wasn't long before Jack was opening the door to a friendly and familiar face.

"Well hello, long time no see." She said with a smile.

"Hey, come on in!" He stepped aside and Mrs. Bennett stepped in with someone Jack swore he knew right behind her.

"Hi Jack!" The boy greeted excitedly. Jack smiled, loving his enthusiasm but something seemed odd. Had she told the boy about him?

"Hi, you must be Jamie." Jack greeted. There was something in the boy's eyes when he said that, they fell, almost like he was expecting something he didn't get.

"Jack? Don't you remember? You...you grew up!" Jamie looked him over in astonishment.

"Jamie..." His mom drew his name out. "What did we say? This isn't the same Jack." She chastised lightly, almost laughing as she did so. She gave Jack an apologetic look which he met with a smile.

"But...but he, you look JUST like him! That's Jack Frost!" Jamie insisted. Jack got a mental image of a Shepard's crook and a blizzard, Jamie's face and someone who reminded him a whole lot of Sandy, but it was gone as soon as it got there and it left him looking in awe at the little boy who was returning the look hopefully.

"Well, who was Jack Frost?" Jack asked, kneeling to be at Jamie's height, settling on the floor beside him because Jack was actually fairly tall.

"He had white hair and blue eyes, and he always wore a dark blue hoodie. He was a guardian and we would have snowball fights all the time after I met him." Jamie explained. Jack couldn't help his smile.

"That sounds like fun." Jack agreed, something sounded familiar about that scenario but he couldn't put his finger on it. The last name too, it fit better somehow. Jackson Overland Frost...he liked it much better than Jackson Overland Bunnymund. It flowed better. He didn't get to dwell on the idea long though, Jamie pulled him back to reality before he had enough time to realize how much better it fit.

"It was, but if you don't remember then you really must not be him." Jamie looked really disappointed and Jack couldn't stand it. He glanced up at his mom when he tried to distract him, just to be sure he wasn't crossing a line but her smile said she appreciated his understanding.

"Hey, that's alright, he's out there somewhere. It's summer here so you wouldn't be seeing him around yet, right?" He nodded. "Well, why don't you tell us about him and all his friends?" Jack prompted, "I'll be you're a great storyteller." Jamie's eyes lit up.

"Well, not as good as he was, but sure." All Jack's younger siblings who had been watching with baited breath for this to play out all gathered around with various appreciative calls and cheers. Jamie and his mom settled down on the couch and the rest of them all sat in chairs and on the floor waiting.

"Where do I start?" He asked, looking around uncertainly.

"Well, tell us about Jack Frost." His mom prompted. It was clear to Jack that she had heard all these stories before and loved her son's creativity.

"Okay!" He sat up and he recounted the entire story about how he had met Jack, and how the guardians had landed in his bedroom and later how Jack had made it snow, in his room! He talked about each guardian in turn, describing them as best he knew how. He knew something was up immediately when he took a closer look at the five.

"What did they look like?" Jack asked.

"Well, Jack looked like...well you. If you were about twelve or fourteen." Jamie insisted, "only his hair was actually white and yours is blonde." He provided. "Sandman looked a whole lot like Sandy does, only he was made of golden sand! And Santa was called North and he was big and fearce, but...kinda looked a lot like nick only he was, not old just...well his beard and hair were white. Then there was Tooth, she was a human-sized fary that looked a lot like a humming bird and she was blue and green and gold and purple! Then there was the Easter Bunny and he was huge and cool and he had these awesome boomerangs and he was probably six feet tall!" He provided excitedly.

Nick, Anna and Sandy were enthralled and Jack was loving his enthusiasm but Aster was sitting there with a polite but skeptical look on his face. Arms crossed, legs under him he was listening intently and trying to decide if the kid really believed what he said or if he was really telling an amazing story.

They settled on having dinner upstairs and by the end of the night when they ventured back downstairs they were all asking about the guardians. Jack couldn't imagine how he hadn't thought about these stories before but he was instantly glad that he hadn't because Jamie's version was so much better than anything he would have dreamed up. As he was putting them to bed he told them to believe, that maybe the Sandman would visit them.

Once they were asleep he settled down on the couch and called about their parent's house, it was only nine and he had gotten midnight calls from her before.

"Hello?" The cheery but smoke-riddled voice of his friendly neighborhood real-estate agent answered on the first ring.

"Hey, this is Jackson. I was wondering how things were going, you told me to check up in a few days." He asked, holding his breath.

"Oh, I meant to call you, it's sold! You'll be getting that check in the mail soon." She informed and he had to seriously use every single drop of his self-control to avoid jumping up and cheering. Someone had bought that crappy house!

"Thank you very much!" He said, not catching her goodbye or that she had hung up. She had done it, she had sold that old rotted out thing! He leaned back on the sofa in elated exhaustion.

Sandy, having just realized Jack wasn't in their room, wandered out to look for him. He almost didn't realize he was there for a moment until he climbed up on the sofa and snuggled into his side.

"Hey Sandy, what're you doin' outta bed buddy?" He asked, ruffling his baby brother's blonde mop. He looked up at him and tugged on his shirt, pointing in the direction of their room. Jack chuckled.

"I had to make a call buddy." He informed the sleepy toddler. He tugged again and held his arms out in the universal sign for 'pick me up!'. Jack chuckled again.

"Alright, alright." He conceded as he picked him up. "You know if you don't go to sleep the Sandman can't give you nice dreams." He informed semi-warningly. Sandy nodded and grinned. Jack guessed that meant he knew. He pointed at Jack with a nod.

"Oh, you mean I have to go to sleep too or he won't come?" he asked. Sandy nodded resolutely and Jack nodded.

"You know you're right bud, alright come on." He tucked the toddler back into his bed. "G'night buddy." Sandy smiled at him and squeezed his pillow in a hug. Jack let out a massive breath before he curled up in his own bed by the window.

It wasn't five minutes later when something shattered in the living room.

Jack lept up instantly, biting his lip so as not to curse. Sandy was already out and not budging but Anna was wide awake and scared silly. Her big blue eyes searched for Jack, not adjusted to the dark yet and Jack found her quickly.

"Shh, come here, it's alright." he whispered as he picked her up, easily holding her on one arm while he gathered Sandy up in the other. The room Aster shared with Nick was at the end of the hall so he pulled them in there and locked the door. Both boys were wide awake and trying their best to be all manly but Jack could see the little seven year old Nicky on the verge of tears. Aster was much more reserved, but his eyes were wide.

"Hey, it's alright, come here." He sat down on Aster's bed and Nick crawled over behind him. Anna was squeezing his waist and Sandy was now up and burying his face in his shoulder. He knew he wasn't much good with them all over him though, so he gently de-tangled himself.

"Jackie? What're you doin'?" Anna whined.

"Shh, it's okay, I'm gonna go check it out just stay here okay? I'll be right back." He assured her. She huddled into Aster, in fact all of them did and Jack handed him an old baseball bat. He knew it wouldn't do much and he was more likely to smack himself in the face, but it made him feel better and that was all Jack was gunning for at the moment.

"Alright Aster, stay with them, okay?" Aster nodded. Jack gave his hair a ruffle before making his way out the door, shutting it behind him.

When he made it to the living room the glass was broken but nothing was stolen and it looked like the bandit had smacked himself over the head with the cutting board and run. He tilted his head and tried to suppress the sarcastic comments that threatened to bubble up out of his mouth. After shutting the window, covering it with the shutters and doing a thorough check up and down on the place he swept up the glass and made his way back to the others.

"Hey guys, it's okay, they're gone." He assured.

"What happened?" Nick asked.

"I don't know, but they didn't take anything and they're gone so why look a gift horse in the mouth?" He chuckled with a grin, trying his best to lighten the mood as he sat back down in the middle of them. He gave the top of Anna's head a little kiss to calm her down and encouraged Sandy to snuggle back in under his arm. "We're alright, it's all good." he assured.

"What if they come back?" Aster asked, his eyes flitting all over the room at every slight change in light and movement. Jack gave his shoulder a pat.

"I'll stay in the living room, okay? They won't come back but if they do I'll be right there waiting for 'em. Okay?" he reasoned. Aster relaxed, as did the others and he mentally sighed. This was gonna be a looooooooong week.

He wasn't too keen with leaving anyone in his new home after this, and now to top it off he had to get the window replaced because he didn't figure he'd be lucky enough that insurance or the landlord would cover any of it. He settled down with all his blankets and pillows on the, thankfully, comfortable couch. As he was drifting off he noted the slight shadow cast over the windows but really didn't think much of it.

About an hour later he heard a high-pitched, obviously terrified screech from his room.

"Anna?!" He bolted through the door to find the poor thing sitting straight up, back against the wall, terrified of something she had seen, probably in a dream.

"Anna? What is it sweetie? What's wrong?" Jack asked halfway panicked but trying to speak softly for her sake.

"Jack?" She blinked up at him as if just now realizing where she was.

"Yeah I'm right here, what's wrong?" He asked as he pulled her into a hug. Sandy was sitting up wide-eyed and looking over at them in startled question.

"I-I h-h-had a bad...dream." Anna was full-on snot-crying now and Jack was doing his best to calm her when Nick and Aster finally got up the courage to come investigate.

"What's wrong?" Aster poked his head in.

"Anna had a nightmare, it's okay sweetie, it's alright. It was just a bad dream it can't hurt you." Jack assured as he rocked the trembling mess that was his little sister.

"Hey, it's alright buddy." Aster noted Sandy's tension and Jack booted himself for not immediately checking to see if he was alright, the kid couldn't talk it was up to him dangit. Aster picked the little boy up, encouraging him to snuggle into him. "It's okay, sissy just had a bad dream, that's all. We're safe." he practically cooed, although half-asleep, to the boy until he fell asleep again.

Nick, upon seeing that everyone was alright, wandered back to bed.

"Night Nicky." Jack said, although he debated if he had even heard him, poor guy was still sleepin' on his feet.

"Jackie..." Anna whined, obviously not wanting him to leave. He hugged her a bit tighter and kissed the top of her head.

"It's alright Annie, I'm not leaving, shh." he soothed the toddler who was still worked up. It took the better part of a half hour but he finally got her to relax and semi-close her eyes.

No sooner than they drifted back off he heard a faint noise like a whimper in the other room and Aster sent Jack the 'I'm on it' look. He came back with a sniffling Nick and curled up on Sandy's bed with the two.

"Nightmare?" Jack asked. Aster nodded.

"I don't even know how, it couldn't have been more than a minute, maybe he was just sleep-walkin' before?" He ventured at a whisper. Jack shrugged.

"Could've been, wouldn't put it past him." Jack said around a yawn. "Alright, no more icky dreams, come on. Nap time." Jack said as he picked Anna up, taking the terrified little girl with her to grab all his pillows and blankets, adding them to the pile on her bed. "Let's just sleep here." He suggested, abandoning all thoughts of sleeping soundly through the night. If nothing else he'd just take a quick nap before work.

"Good idea." Aster nodded. Jack had left the door open and the hall light, which was dim, on. They managed to all fall asleep without any more problems.

Pitch watched this whole thing play out but couldn't let himself watch the guy rob them. He had caused the cutting board to break the idiot's nose and run him off. Watching Jack handle four very terrified kids was...surprising. Pitch pondered how he managed to calm them, never losing his temper.

After those nightmares...

Pitch had a sense, he could see what the person was dreaming about if it wasn't pleasant and from what he saw of Anna and Nick's dreams they had been...unplanned. The single, solitary time Jack hadn't been able to keep them away from their parents when they had snapped was ingrained in the little seven year old's minds. It was rather horrifying, even to Pitch. Even he couldn't understand why a parent would say what they had, do what they had done.

"Maybe they've got enough to be afraid of." He realized in shock. "Maybe..." He wouldn't say it, he refused, but something about them made his parental instincts, long dead, reawaken. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of said feelings but they clung to him like a mist. "What are you up to this time, old friend?" Pitch mused softly and much friendlier than Mani had heard him speak in a long time and he knew his plan was working.

A horrible mistake was being unmade.

As Pitch watched the children finally sleep soundly a silver light washed over him that he didn't see, but caused Mani to sigh in relief. It had begun, after centuries of effort it was finally happening. He smiled down at his son, not knowing what would unfold, only that there was hope.

**Well happy Monday night (or by the time I run this through and it actually posts, Tuesday morning) everyone! Thankfully I was working on this today when I was denied my chance to be a good little musician because all the practice rooms were full and frankly I was hungry. I'd like to say thank you to my first review on this story, thank you very, very much! As always please feel free to comment and let me know what's good/bad, and thank you for reading, you are wonderful people! :)**


	5. Chapter 5-Unexpected Job Opening

"Where's Sandy?" Jack asked upon opening his eyes and finding the little guy wasn't there. As he stretched a panic washed over him. Sandy never wandered off at night and he most definitely wouldn't have after all of that nastiness. "Aster!" He whispered. The taller boy blinked his eyes blearily before realizing who had called him. He saw Jack looking a bit panicked and that didn't help his heartbeat stay slow and even. He sat up, tense and ready to pounce.

"What?" He whispered.

"Where's Sandy?" He asked.

"He's rig-oh god!" His voice started to raise and Jack lowered both hands repeatedly to silence him.

"I'm gonna check the living room." He whispered as he carefully de-tangled himself from the sleeping (thankfully/finally) Anna and the covers.

"Sandy?" He called quietly in the hall.

From the kitchen Pitch froze, baby Sandy clinging to his leg like he was a long-lost friend. He tried to pry him off his leg and he couldn't help the soft smile gracing his features. He had to admit, he was getting a soft-spot for the little nut.

"Sandy! There you are, you scared me buddy." Jack half-admonished in relief, scooping the boy up and passing through Pitch in the process. Sandy pointed at Pitch with a happy grin and Jack raised his eyebrow.

"What is it buddy?" He asked, confused as he could see nothing where Sandy was pointing. He made a sign. 'Friend'. Jack smiled obligingly, but without the condescension you might expect from an older brother when confronted with his baby sibling's 'imaginary' friend.

"Oh, you have a new friend?" He asked. Sandy nodded happily. Pitch missed the conversation because Jack had taken Sandy back to bed, as it was too early for them to be up, and stood there stunned.

The sand man had seen him. The Sand man had call him a friend.

"My life just can't get any stranger, can it?" He asked Mani with a smile, although this time it was a gentler one. "What are you getting me into now, old friend?" He asked as he watched the moon's light flicker over the room like a reluctant smile. Something in his gut told him to stay, and he figured that would be Mani, and as much as part of him wanted to fight that he found that he just couldn't. He decided he wanted to stick around.

He was lounging on the couch, waiting for something to make sense in the truest form of the expression. His mind was bubbling up with all sorts of unpleasant thoughts and contradicting feelings he just couldn't push back.

"Hey!" He heard Aster yell right after a very large thump. "Watch it!"

"Well you weren't paying attention." Jack chastised, sounding like he was trying desperately not to laugh.

Pitch didn't catch the rest of it for the laughter of Jack, (he assumed Sandy), Nick and Anna. Shaking his head he stood and made for the window, wondering what in the world had gotten into him.

"My son, do not fight this." He thought he had heard Mani say, which honestly wouldn't have surprised him in the slightest.

"Did I say I intended to?" He asked to himself and as he left to wander the world and...he didn't really know what he was doing...he could swear Mani chuckled.

Back in the apartment Jack was getting ready to make breakfast after getting everyone cleaned up. The window being closed caused them to have to keep the light on despite the bright morning sky and somehow everyone had recovered from the night before.

Pitch had wandered to the empty pole and found yeti running everywhere, scrambling to keep up with their now missing boss' toy production and hoping they wouldn't have to deliver the toys as well. Although he wouldn't have been pegged by anyone as the multilingual type Pitch actually spoke fluent yittish, so he caught the conversations below from the shadows. He gleaned quite a bit of useful information in those few hours, mostly that the dais (evidently a panel under the moonstone that directed the moon's magic) needed to open back up and only a guardian could do it.

"That's odd, they're children Mani, they can't-" He sighed heavily as the moon crystal that sat atop the dais began to glow with moonlight and his image showed up. "Of course." He rolled his eyes but for once there was no heat in it. Something had happened to him before that he couldn't really even remember that had made him the boogeyman, but right that second he couldn't figure out for the life of him why. He stepped up in front of the befuddled yeti and elves uncertainly.

"Well...why are you staring at me, you have jobs to do." He poured as much of his menacing side into it as possible but all he got was a slight head-tilt from the head yeti, Phil who began to question him about what was happening.

"Well, Mani has evidently chosen me, again." That sent them farther into a stunned state of utter confusion.

"Pitch Black is now the Guardian of Children, take care of your Jobs, all is well." Mani confirmed. They shot back into action leaving Pitch stunned.

"Mani? What in the world is going on? What possible reason could you have for this, and why wouldn't you have done it any sooner? I'm not a guardian. I haven't been for ages..." He trailed off, something in his soul screaming out in protest to that sentence. His stomach knotted up in defiance of his dismissal.

"That was my failing, my son. Let them un-do it."

"I am fear." He tried, he didn't even sound convincing to himself.

"No, my son. You are courage. You have forgotten what it is like to be loved. Remind yourself." He commanded softly as the light faded and the moon vanished from the sky.

He remembered why he had become fear. He had to remember now, Mani had left him with no choice. They had feared him, and that had empowered him, corrupted him for a time. When he had been chosen in the dark ages he hadn't been prepared for what the power of fear could, and would, do to people in order to give them courage. He had to be feared and he had hated it, but now he reveled in it...so he thought. He tried to be bitter but the memory of baby Sandy clinging to his leg happily forced its way back into his mind and caused a gentle smile to spread over his features. Sandy hadn't been afraid of him, and he missed that something terrible.

It was about now that Mrs. Bennett showed up with Jamie and Jack was tasked with letting her know about the whole stunt the night before.

"I just don't feel right asking you to be here, I don't know what that man wanted, and it's not as if he was a huge threat but there's nothing to lock that window with and-" She held her hands up to cut him off kindly.

"Jack, it's fine. Really it is. It was probably someone who thought this place was still uninhabited. I'll get something to lock the window with and it'll be fine." She assured. He looked across the counter and into the living room where the five kids were playing happily at the table. Chutes and Ladders, he mentally chuckled.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." She nodded, "now go on, you've got to get to work." She smiled, teasing gently. Something about the way she acted made him think of her as his own mother, and he was never more grateful for that than he was right then.

"Okay, okay." He chuckled as she shoved him playfully towards the door after a hug.

"Be careful."

"I will." He smiled and something odd happened. Her image faltered for a moment, making her look familiar, and she was dressed in colonial clothing, and the image of a much different home... It was gone before he could blink and he shook it out. Maybe it was his overactive imagination playing tricks. Yeah, that's what he'd call it.

For the first time in what felt like his whole life he didn't mind leaving them. He loved being with them, and he would miss them, but he wasn't worried. He wasn't terrified of what would happen to them while he was gone, if they'd get into the food and unwittingly cause themselves to not have lunch, if they would get hurt, if someone would get to them, if they'd be there at all when he got home. He could relax and it was an amazing feeling, being able to trust someone else with them.

Mrs. Bennett had actually gone a step farther than Jack had thought she would because she knew he would never ask for it, and he wouldn't tell her, but he really did need the help. She had brought food from upstairs to make them dinner and even taken them out for ice cream briefly (they really were mid-town now, right across the street from such things). She had warned them not to get use to that, that Jack worked really hard and that they wouldn't always be able to do these things, but she would try.

"We know, Jackie works super hard for us, and we don't mind when we don't get to order out all the time." Aster very adorably confirmed. She quizzed them about their family life and after a while she was determined to make sure this boy had what he needed. She made a mental Christmas/birthday list right there and set to making it happen, planning ahead in her mind while they played twister. She operated the spinner.

**Okay, two things; **

**One-Thank you so much for following/favorite-ing! I know some people may not like being called out by name but you know who you are and you are wonderful people! **

**Two-Oh my gosh I'm so sorry I haven't updated in too long! The semester just got really crazy and I haven't had time. Thanks for sticking with it! Let me know what you think about this one, it's kind of taking off and I'm having trouble keeping up with my ambitions. :) **

**As always thanks for reading and let me know what you think! **


	6. Chapter 6- Naptime

**Chapter Six- Naptime**

He had no idea the lengths she was willing to go to for them and it was heartwarming. She was sitting up on the couch, TV turned down and the little ones asleep like a mass pass-out. Aster was stretched out in the armchair to her left, Sandy curled up at his side. Nick had his head in Mrs. Bennett's lap and Anna was curled up in the other chair, Jamie beside her.

That last one made him suppress a chuckle.

"Hey Jack, how was work?" She asked cheerfully, although at a whisper.

"Pretty good actually. It was a slow night." He offered on his way through to the kitchen where he discovered that she had made him a dinner which was ready to microwave. "Oh, that's really nice thank you." He said in shock as he discovered the meal. She chuckled at him.

"No problem Jack." She grinned.

"Were they little demons?" He asked the obviously exhausted woman who shook her head.

"They were really well behaved." She assured. "They're sweethearts." She offered.

"Well let's see how well behaved they are when the school makes them sit still all day." Jack teased, sitting cross-legged at the end of the table.

"That's normal." She assured.

"I know, they really aren't that bad." He conceded. "If they weren't I'd never have left them with you, they've kind of…had to be." He explained tiredly.

"You mean when you use to have to leave them with your parents?" She asked knowingly. He nodded and mumbled through a drink of milk.

"Yeah, any less behaved and I would've had to take 'em to work with me. I don't think I'd still have a job." He mused as he examined the empty plate in front of him.

"Well, they're angels, and you don't need to worry about them." She offered, confirming that he was never going to have to handle the situation on his own again. "I'll help any way I can, I think you've more than earned a chance to be a kid again." He looked up at her in shock.

"A kid?" He asked, looking too much like one for her to handle straight-faced.

"Yes hon, you're 18, but you're really not an adult. I promise you've got more growing to do. This is when it should get fun, you have adventures and meet new people. You shouldn't need to be a parent too." She elaborated.

"But I really don't mind taking care of them...but…thank you. You do so much more for them than I can." He offered sheepishly. What she was saying sounded better than he wanted to admit. He really longed for being a child, relaxing and not fretting every little thing. He wanted to be calm so that they could stop picking up on his stress and be kids.

"Well, you're welcome Jack. Between the two of us, you can relax and they'll have a great life." She assured. "Maybe you should get some sleep." She urged gently, giving him a knowing look.

"But they'll panic, they're still a bit strung up about what happened, I'd bet all the mac and cheese in the world on it, and you and Jamie probably need to go home. I don't work tomorrow and I'll-"

"Jack?" She interrupted sweetly.

"Hmm?"

"You sat up with them for two nights, then worked a full shift. I'm not in a hurry, doesn't look like sleeping beauty is either. Go get some sleep." She urged again, leaning forward (carefully) to pat Jack's shoulder. He seemed to wrestle with the idea for a time before caving and yawning fiercely. He wouldn't remember how he had gotten to bed later, but he would wake up feeling much better than he had because a certain legendary figure was learning a new trick, and he was having some mixed feelings about it.

Yes, the Boogeyman wasn't quite acting like the boogeyman anymore. As hard as pitch fought it he realized that Mani was right, and he was getting attached to a certain golden-haired toddler who's magic was leaking into him.

He had actually stood at the opening to the kitchen, watching with interest and wonder as this woman took Jack under her wing. He couldn't help the smile that graced his less-palled features as he watched the boy relax for the first time since this transformation took place. He was happy to not need to protect the boy again when he couldn't see him. Then it happened.

A golden strand unseen by anyone else in the room swirled up from the little sleeping Sandy. It looked like his magic, but a less potent form. It looked to Pitch like his core was trying to free itself and do his job.

_My son, do you know what needs to be done?_ Mani's voice echoed in his head.

"I believe so." Pitch whispered, still smiling at the adorable scene before him. "It will be as it was?" He asked, flashes of his old memories flooding through him.

_It shall. If you allow it, my son._ Mani agreed. Pitch nodded in acknowledgement as he stepped up to the boy and that strand which wrapped itself around him cheerfully.

"What if I fail?" He asked, suddenly filed with that fear he had been so intent upon spreading to the world. "How do I do this?" He asked.

_Maintain your center._ He offered cryptically as his light vanished from the room.

"What the devil does that mean?" He asked out loud, causing baby Sandy to stir. The boy blinked up at him in confusion and then giggled silently, and happily, stretching his arms out to him. Pitch happily obliged him. "Hello there Sandy, looks like I'll be using your magic until you get a little older." Pitch grinned at both the smiling little boy and at his pun. He couldn't help himself.

Then he encountered a snag.

"Pitch?!" A hushed and terrified whisper found him from the chair Jamie had been in. He turned slowly, looking about as terrified as Jamie sounded. He couldn't stand that sound. This gave him pause. He, who had once thrived on fear not that long ago, was now so nauseated by the sound…

"Jamie?" He whispered, realizing who he was talking to put a knot in his stomach he was fairly certain wouldn't be going anywhere for a while. His so recent change had caused many moments of self-loathing as he watched over the changed guardians and their jobs, but none more than this moment.

Sandy was signing something to Jamie that he recognized from later that day when Mrs. Bennett had been teaching her son so he could speak with that particular toddler.

Friend.

**Okay, sorry, sorry, sorry! I was gone for so long! But…midterms and school and stuff. Here is the thing! Thanks for reading and sticking with it! Let me know what you think and if you notice something I didn't, all that jazz. You are wonderful people! **


	7. Chapter 7- The Forgotten Guardian

**Chapter Seven-The Forgotten Guardian**

"Sandy, what're you talking about? Friend?!" Jamie whispered frantically, drawing a concerned frown from the younger boy. Sandy hopped down off his perch and wrapped his arms around Pitch's leg. The smile that was drawn from him was so sincere it almost knocked Jamie over in shock. Pitch picked the little boy up and let him snuggle into his coat.

"I know, things have been…rough, in the past. I don't expect you to believe or understand or sympathize with anything I'm about to tell you, but if you could let me say it, that would be more than I could ever hope for from anyone in this room, and I would be grateful." Pitch asked of him. His stomach was knotting up and Jamie's distrust and fear wasn't helping.

"Alright." Jamie nodded. The relief that flooded Pitch was almost too much for him to handle. Was Pitch really different?

"Thank you. The moon has been trying to reverse something that happened a long time ago. I was the first of the Guardians, actually held every one of the centers at once, but when…well…you don't need to know what exactly happened. I'll say that it wasn't pretty, and it…well…changed me. I was not the Boogeyman when I was chosen, I was a, well mostly nameless guardian, actually going by so many names I couldn't keep track of them. I was possessed by the darkness after…well it was an accident and it caused me to become who I was." He took a deep breath and realized he was kneading circles in the sleepy blonde's back which had caused him to conk out on his shoulder. "Again, I don't expect you to believe me, but I hope you can see that I'm not lying. I was…changed, and this was indeed a stunt Mani pulled to, well…fix it." Pitch explained. Jamie's eyes flitted to Jack's room and realization dawned on him.

"You mean, I KNEW IT!" He whooped.

"Jamie! Jeeze, you'll wake the neighborhood!" Aster mumbled in his 'sleep'.

"Sorry!" Jamie whispered, wide-eyed and tensed up, waiting for someone else to wake up. When no one did Pitch relaxed and nodded to the kitchen, which was a little farther from the sleeping crowd.

"So, you'd already guessed that they were the guardians?" Pitch asked.

"Yeah, I knew it was Jack, it had to be! It was weird though, cause he didn't remember." Jamie half-whined.

"That is because Mani wanted him to believe the illusion. He has, I believe, a set of false memories." Pitch explained. He was beginning to relax as Jamie's believe skyrocketed. He knew that Sandy would have sensed the danger by now, and for once the lack of fear in the boy's eyes was welcome beyond anything the old guardian could hope for.

"So…do they all have fake memories?" He asked. Pitch nodded. "So…why were you here?" He asked, rightfully suspicious in Pitch's opinion.

"I need to maintain belief in them and for that I need Sandy's magic. He can't control its core anymore so I'm going to direct the inevitable remnants that escape. Like this." Pitch held out a hand, not too far as he needed to hold the boy, and a strand snaked its way out and split up to find all the children at once. Jamie's face lit up.

"What about the pole? And the teeth? And Easter?" He asked excitedly.

"The yeti can run the place surprisingly well, baby tooth is in charge of the faries and frankly it's not close to Easter at all. I'm hoping we can reverse this before that comes around anyway." He qualified.

"Well how are you gonna do that?" He asked.

"Good question." Pitch grinned uncomfortably, and playfully. It was throwing Jamie for a loop. How could he be so different so easily and so soon? It was giving him a headache. "Don't worry, I'll figure it out. Can you do me a favor though?" He asked, kneeling down to his eye-level.

"Sure." Jamie nodded, the way Pitch was acting he had no problem trusting him, there was something in his eyes, his skin, his mannerisms that had change. He was gentler and somehow more apologetic. _If he's not lying, he deserves a chance._

"Can you keep those five out of trouble? They have this way of worming themselves into tight spots and I need you to keep an eye on them. Don't tell them about it though, it's a secret." Pitch cautioned as seriously as he could. Jamie nodded in promise. "Good. Here, take this crazy kid." Pitch teased, handing Sandy to him.

"Of course!" Jamie smiled confidently. Suddenly he wasn't so skeptical. Pitch might have been bad before, and it was definitely not something he'd put past pitch to try this to trick him, but he had looked into his eyes. Instead of the sickly yellow-ish grey-gold they had been before they were now vibrant, shining, clear silver. It was actually stunning. When Jamie looked there, he hadn't found a hint of treachery, or lies. Instead there was fondness, and amusement, and warmth. The way Sandy's magic responded readily to him had sealed the deal. Pitch had changed.

As he settled back down to sleep with Sandy under his arms the realization of who was snuggled up to him hit him like a brick. He had the most outrageous dreams after that and he knew he would never forget about that for as long as he lived. Through the next few months Jack worked, went to school, took care of the others. It was pretty standard, nothing out of the ordinary other than Sandy insisting that he had made a friend named Pitch that Jack couldn't see and everyone having wonderful, shared dreams.

Back at the pole Pitch had set up a sort of base camp in the globe room. It had taken a while but soon everyone was use to this arrangement and he was able to keep everything moving between visits to Jack's home where he worked on getting the pint-sized guardians to believe in themselves. If it weren't so important Pitch would probably have laughed at the irony almost daily. So far only Sandy believed, which wasn't a shock.

"Mani, what on earth am I going to do? You've really gotten yourself into a pickle this time." Pitch mused as he went back out the door to do all things dream related. Sometimes a kid needed a nip in the bud to scare them straight and sometimes they needed to be reminded of life's beauty. It was now his job to do both. He could barely believe it, and Mani had brought all this down himself. "What are we going to do?" He had read up on their problem. They needed each guardian to believe in themselves, as in telling them to believe in themselves but not who they are, and then get them to open the dais, returning them to normal. Promising, but…

_"__It can be done, my son."_

**Sorry again, it's been forever! Also this is really short, sorry. On the upside it's almost finals week so I'll be done with all this madness and I can write full time around practice, sleeping, and eating. That means much, much more to read! Either that, or I'll write and write and write, then post it all at once. As always let me know what you think, thanks for reading and you are all wonderful people! :) **


	8. Chapter 8-Misunderstood

**Chapter Eight-Misunderstood **

The question Pitch had been pondering for ages was how to get the guardians to believe in themselves, but that wasn't the question. The real question was, how to get them to know about them. The answer, of course, was to have Jamie suggest the stories. It was simple enough, and giving them dreams every night would help but he really needed Jamie in on this or it would never work. Of course Sandy's believe shone like a star, and that couldn't hurt either.

With Jamie telling them stories he quickly had a problem. He had told them about him as well, but insisted that he was good now. That was problematic. Sandy liked him because he was little, the others might not see it that way.

He entered to pay Jamie a friendly visit and give some good dreams and, regrettably, scare little Anna out of eating raw cookie dough by the pound. Nothing bad, but enough that she shouldn't try it. Instead of a sleeping house he was faced with the sight of little Aster, the oldest of the four kids, staring him down like he was about to murder him. The nine-year-old looked more than unhappy to meet him and before he could worry about what to say he opened his mouth and Pitch didn't need to guess what he'd say.

"JACK!" He called.

"What, what is it?" He asked frantically but as calmly as he could manage. Aster pointed to where Pitch was now standing, looking rather sad.

"It's the Boogeyman!" He insisted.

"Bunny there's nothing there, okay?" He tried to reassure the kid, using his nickname and blocking his view. Pitch took that moment to disappear so that Jack could be right. There was, indeed, nothing there.

"But…but I SAW him!" He insisted, bottom lip shaking more than the boy would have liked.

"Hey buddy, Its alright. Whatever it was it's gone now okay?" Aster nodded, more than happy to go with that. Pitch was gone, Aster was safe, he could live with that.

Sandy came running in at the mention of the Boogeyman. Oddly having the exact opposite reaction to what they expected, he wanted to see him! He wanted his new friend! He clapped happily and looked around but found nothing and looked between them in confusion.

"Why are you so happy? He's the Boogeyman! He's mean, and evil! You aren't friends with him!" Aster chastised angrily. He didn't like the way Jamie talked about him like he could change. If he was so old he'd be who he'd always been. If he was going to be good he'd have done it already.

Sandy's little lower lip started to shake and his eyes started to water. He looked at Jack pleadingly and Jack turned to Aster.

"Aster! That wasn't very nice." Jack crossed his arms sternly, crouching down to meet the boy's eye.

"I'm not sorry." Aster insisted. "The Boogeyman is bad."

"Aster, whatever your opinions are that's fine, you can voice them but you don't get to yell at people or tell them that the opinions they have are just wrong. And you definitely aren't allowed to yell at your little brother." He continued. Aster was chewing his lower lip. Jack opened his arm for Sandy who snuggled into him fearfully.

"Why? He's wrong. The Boogeyman isn't his friend! He's just a little kid! He doesn't know anything!" Aster yelled in frustration loud enough that Anna and Nick were peeking out of their respective rooms in curiosity.

Sandy ripped himself out of Jack's arm and ran crying down the hall into Nick's room, hiding and catching Nick off guard.

"Sandy!" Jack tried, but Sandy wasn't coming back. He set his death-glare on Aster.

"Crybaby." He grumped.

"Aster. What has got you so riled up about this?" Jack asked, sensing a tension he hadn't before. Aster was never this mean or butt-headed without cause.

"I saw him!"

"Alright buddy, alright, but why are you so onto Sandy about it?" He asked knowingly.

"He thinks the Boogeyman is good, like Santa and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth fary, but he's not! He's mean! He gives people nightmares and hides under beds! He's scary and evil and Sandy shouldn't like him because he'll get lots of nightmares and the Boogeyman will come and get him!" Aster admitted, getting less surly and more upset as time went on. Jack pulled the boy into a hug and looked over his shoulder to the others, meaning 'back to bed'. They listened much better than you'd expect.

"Now Bunny, Sandy's safe. No one's gonna hurt him, and no one's gonna take him away, alright?" He pulled back and wiped some tears from the poor kid's face. "I know Sandy, and you know Sandy, right?" Aster nodded. "Now I don't know about you, but I think that boy has a super amazing judge of character, better than some adults I know. If Sandy likes someone, they're good. He's not mindless about it." He relaxed when Aster sniffed and nodded his agreement. Maybe if Sandy liked him, the Boogeyman wasn't so bad after all.

Meanwhile Pitch had found the little golden boy curled up on the fire escape outside Nick's window. He knew Jack would have a heart attack if he found him out there, so he decided to try and talk him into going back inside. When he found the boy sobbing a white-hot, protective rage washed over him. His own big brother had made him cry! He deflated quickly and rushed to soothe the toddler.

"Sandy?" He cooed. Little red-rimmed eyes found him and he started to sign like crazy. Thankful he understood sign language Pitch sat down with him.

'They told me you were bad! He said I was just a kid! Am I wrong?' Was the jist of his rant.

"Sandy, come here." Pitch opened his arm for the little blonde to tuck himself into. "I wasn't always who I am right now. Something happened to me a long time ago and I was bad, but now I'm trying to make things better. That's why Aster doesn't like me, you understand?" He asked. Sandy nodded and snuggled in closer, signing 'friend' once more while looking up in question.

"Yes Sandy, we're friends." Pitch assured. "Now let's go inside, Jack will be worried about you when he can't find you." He reminded. Sandy nodded sleepily on his shoulder. He sent a silent prayer to Mani that Aster didn't see him with Sandy again before he got him to bed, or really at all. He got just inside the door when Nick's slack-jawed stare caught his attention and he fought the urge to sigh. He was so screwed and at this point he was waiting for someone to hit him with a baseball bat. Instead of the scream or anger he had come to expect he was met with the wonder he guarded so closely as an adult.

"Wow! You're real!" Nick exclaimed happily. Sandy clapped, happy to share his new friend with his slightly older brother.

"That's right Nick, and I need you to take Sandy to bed now, alright?" He asked, gently handing the semi-lucid boy over to the slightly large-for-his-age Nick who nodded quite seriously as if he had just been given the keys to the city and told to lock the gate. On his way out he saw Aster which was something he had been trying to avoid at all costs. Rather than fear or anger though, he got a small nod in acknowledgement that told him he was willing to give him a shot, likely because of Sandy and Jack. Nodding back on his way out Pitch couldn't help a smile as he realized he might have a knack for this yet.

He made sure everyone, Jack included although it was much more difficult, had wonderful dreams. He pondered on the irony of that as he left for the pole, not looking forward to the chaos that likely awaited him.

"Phil? How is the production going?" He asked calmly as the yeti ran by. A few yittish sentences indicated that production was steadily making its way past schedule and that everything would be ready on time disasters withheld.

He settled back down in front of the globe, ready for the worst should it happen while taking to carving. Although unlike North his way was much calmer, quieter and more meditative. He chipped calmly at the ice in the relative quiet of the globe room, unwilling to invade North's space. Between toys he painted eggs for Easter, just to get the hang of it in case he needed to, and made sure the faries were still working when they would come in with questions. He spent the year getting them to believe and keeping them safe while doing their jobs until he came across an interesting problem.

I was December.

North was six.

**Dun DUN DUUUUUUUN! Sorry I almost never leave such a purposeful cliffie but this was too perfect to pass up. It's finals week and believe it or not that leaves me SO much more time! I'll try to move this thing along now!**

**Also I'd like to thank my newest follow/fave-ers for follow/fave-ing! I appreciate you so much and I hope you enjoy. Please let me know what you think and if you spot any problems! You are all wonderful people! **


	9. Chapter 9-Rest for the Weary

**Chapter nine-Rest for the Weary**

Things were looking up, he had to admit it was going better than he had expected right up until the 20th. He hadn't expected things to go smoothly but he also had certainly not expected the pole to start falling apart without North's magic. Not to mention the bitterness from several younger spirits when it was discovered that Pitch was a guardian. They had no knowledge of the situation but still went out of their way to give him trouble. He discovered how problematic this could really be that night.

He was out, spreading all manner of dreams and hoping that the other winter spirits had the season covered (as he had asked Phil to inform them that they needed to step up briefly) when he felt the air heat up. It was winter where he was, northern hemisphere and all, but the air around him was scorching.

"Lookie here, the new 'Guardian', I wonder what he's up to." A snarky voice pierced the comfortable silence he was working in. He recognized one of the lesser summer spirits, Theodore, before he even turned to face him, this wasn't good.

"Theo, this isn't your season and you know it. Now get out of here and stop melting the snow, the humans will be confused." Pitch warned tiredly.

"Oh no, I'm so scared. That is what you do, isn't it?" He asked as sarcastically as he could.

"No. That is not "what I do" and furthermore that is none of your business and I suggest you go back where you need to be before I send you there myself." Pitch warned, voice low.

"Or, I could help some friends get even." He smirked. Pitch must have looked confused because Theo laughed. "Oh don't tell me you can't even guess. You don't deserve to be a guardian, Pitch. They do. They want to take out some frustration." He explained. Pitch's gut knotted at his words but he scowled at the man as more summer and fire spirits showed up.

"Believe it or not, you aren't the first spirits to try your hand at me. Do your worst." Pitch's voice hardened, his face a cold sneer. For the first time in what felt like forever he could feel his soul, life breathed into it, alive and well. He could do good as he use to before that life-changing disaster that changed him, hardened him and what did he get? He got fights, and insults and all manner of accusations but he supposed that while he might be different, he had been much nastier before and there were many more people who knew him after that change than before. He hardened himself against the pain of knowing what his actions had earned him, wanting nothing more than to scream at the memories he had of his deeds. _I wasn't in control! There was nothing I could do! That wasn't me!_

Instead of the screaming and protesting he had wanted to do his guardianship so far had been mostly desperate scrambling to fix what had gone wrong. He hadn't had time to stew in his own thoughts and for that he was grateful.

By the time he had finished those thoughts there were fire arrows sticking out of every possible non-lethal place they could have struck him, gashes, wounds you name it. He was in rough shape. He somehow managed to drag himself back to the pole before he collapsed. Phil found him and between he and the other medically trained yeti they had managed to get him moving in time for Christmas and he had taken a little too long to do the fabled gift-delivery, but it had been worth it. The lights still twinkled on the globe but there were a few dimming.

He had wanted to stick around to see their faces on Christmas but he couldn't waste that time. There were so many other kids who needed their Christmas morning brightened. If he had stayed, he would have seen the most wonderful thing he had ever witnessed.

Mrs. Bennett had gone shopping for Jamie through the year, so right now all she needed was to buy for the five downstairs. She really couldn't contain her excitement. Jamie wasn't helping her be calm either. He had wrapped most of their presents himself, seeming to want to make everything beyond perfect for his new friends. In reality Jamie just knew what his mom couldn't, that he was wrapping presents for the Guardians of childhood!

"When are we going down there mom? Can we go? Come on!" He was hopping around like a crazy person, still in his pajamas.

"Be patient honey, we don't want them to wake up, do we?" She asked. He shook his head, deflating a little.

"No." He admitted.

Around midnight they snuck in and decorated the place a little more than it was already, stuffing the tree with gifts and noting the five neatly-wrapped gifts that said "from Santa" on them arranged around five more that simply had names and a few more that said "from Jack". She couldn't help her smile as she re-arranged them next to her own "from Santa" pile. Each had three from "Santa" including Jack just so the little ones knew and they would bring their own down in a few hours.

When Pitch had made it back to the pole the four kids lights glowed so brightly he almost couldn't look at them, and then there was a fifth. Jack's light was lit. He believed in the way only a big brother could;

He sat back and watched them ripping into their presents like they had all the time in the world, like the pile would never end. There was no savoring the moment, the one gift they would receive as in previous years, no. They believed that Santa would always bring them toys, they couldn't have been more excited and Jack couldn't help the Joy bubbling up in his chest. They needed these stories and he kicked himself for not telling them sooner. After all he might have helped them survive, but now they were flourishing.

As Pitch finally passed out from exhaustion and over-working his injuries Sandy started sneezing. He had been trying his best but there was no denying that he needed rest so Sandy's job got thrown a bit by the wayside for a few days. It only took him three more past Christmas of sleeping and chugging tea like it was the nectar of life before he was able to leave the pole again but when he did he realized the toll that attack had taken.

Back at the "Bunnymund" house Jack was about to collapse. He hadn't been able to sleep himself since Sandy had been waking himself up hacking every ten minutes so he was sitting up with the poor kid in his lap sleeping. It was the only way he could get any relief and Jack was starting to get worried. The medicine the doctors had prescribed was doing absolutely nothing to reduce his fever or the coughing.

"Easy buddy, big breath okay?" He practically cooed to the toddler who nodded, doing as suggested and managing to actually get a breath in. He sniffled and buried his face in Jack's hoodie. His heart broke for the little guy because he couldn't even talk, which meant he had been at school all day silently coughing behind teachers who had been too busy to notice. When he had walked in that night Jack had been immediately both concerned and furious. They hadn't noticed this and called him?

That quickly abated when he thought about what they must have been dealing with. Sandy was the best behaved kid in their classes, he couldn't blame them. He wished he had known though, poor little guy.

"Jackie?" Anna crawled up on the couch with him.

"Yeah Anna?" he asked, opening an arm to allow her to snuggle with him.

"Can we stay with Sandy?" She asked sweetly, Nick and Aster's heads could be seen poking out from the hallway. His heart melted.

"Sure, let's go to our room though." He stood with the shivering little mass of blonde hair still snuggled into his blanket, extending a hand which Anna took he led them to his room he shared with the two. Aster and Nick took the cue, Aster leading the little one in front of him and helping him up onto Jack's bed.

It was about then that Pitch peeked into the window to see a miserable-looking Sandy snuggled into a nest of blankets with all of his family cuddled up around him. He looked awful.

"I'm sorry kiddo, that was my fault." Pitch whispered to the boy through the window. Sandy couldn't hear him but it didn't matter. "I should have fought harder, I could have won. At least you believe now." He smiled sadly, going off to spread as many happy dreams as he could manage so the poor thing could get better as soon as possible.

Soon he heard a knock on the door. He called to let her know they were there and she keyed in with her spare.

"Jack?" Mrs. Bennett's concerned voice reverberated through the apartment.

"In here." He called from his room. The sleeping pile on top of him caused a choked 'aww' sound to escape her. She quickly sat down beside Jack, behind where Anna had curled up under his arm. Four sets of eyes were blinking open and falling shut.

"Don't mind me sweeties, go back to sleep." She urged with a smile. Aster, Nick and Anna happily obliged her. Sandy on the other hand looked like he could cry, which would definitely not help him at the moment. "Come here sweetie."

Jack let her scoop Sandy up into her lap and watched him snuggle into her offered hug.

"You still feelin' icky honey?" She asked. Sandy nodded with a little sniffle. "I'm sorry sweetie. You'll feel better soon, I promise." She cooed as she rubbed his back and set to a gentle rocking motion. "Jack, I have a humidifier upstairs and you look like you need a good night's sleep." She started. Jack just shook his head.

"But you've already done so much to help, if you hadn't paid his copay-" She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Shh, Jackie really? It's alright. I'll take him upstairs and get him his medicine, because I know he fought you and you had to wait, and you go get some sleep." She urged. He opened his mouth again but shook his head and sighed.

"You're right, of course. He needs you right now, too. He needs someone who can take care of him like he needs." She hated the look in his eyes like he had failed.

"Jackie no, it's you I'm worried about hon. You do such a wonderful job but you can't do this by yourself. You need help you can't just run yourself ragged. Please Jack, let me help you _before _you start looking like this." She practically begged at a whisper.

"Like what?" He asked, looking down at himself curiously.

"Like you're about to pass out, sweetie." She chuckled quietly.

"Oh, right…" She couldn't help chuckling because he just looked like he knew there was no point to argue. He was definitely burning the candle at ends it didn't have.

"As usual, you're right, and that's a wonderful plan." He smirked playfully, adding "you know I'm going to just stop questioning you."

"Finally." She grinned and rolled her eyes playfully, she would have thrown her hands up too but Sandy was still snuggled into her lap. Sometimes Jack wondered if she was still a kid pretending to be an adult because she was so full of life and fun he could scarcely imagine her being any older than himself.

"Jackie?" Nick looked up at his big brother, questioning the whole situation as he saw Mrs. Bennett getting up with a bundled Sandy in her arms.

"It's alright Nicky, she's gonna take Sandy upstairs where she's got more that can make him feel better." He explained to the sleepy toddler.

"You mean he's gotta go by himself?" He asked worriedly.

He shared a look with Mrs. Bennett and she immediately came to a decision.

"Of course not sweetie, you can come too, if you'd like." She assured. Nick nodded and squirmed his way out of bed which woke the others and inevitably meant that Mrs. Bennett had five kids to deal with, all so Jack could get some sleep. He smiled a huge, grateful smile at her as she left with her new herd of sleepy little ones.

He got the best, most relaxed night of sleep he had in a long time.

Back at the pole, Pitch was passed out similarly on one of the couches at the pole.

Even the best of them wouldn't have imagined the scenario that would come about in the next few hours. It was too crazy for Wonder, too magical for Hope, too creative for Dreams and there was no Memory in the world of it.

**Okay, sorry not sorry about this cliffie. Let me know what you think, and if there's something wrong/something I missed. Please and thank you, you are all wonderful people! :)**


	10. Chapter 10-Meet the Real Me

**Chapter Ten- Meet the Real Me**

"Where am I?" He groaned, sitting up and taking in the sights around him. He was at the Pole but something felt wrong.

"Jack?" A familiar voice called him.

"Pitch?!" He shot upright, staff clutched tightly as he glared at the nightmare king.

"Woah there!" He held up his hands in a placating fashion. "I'm not sure what's happening, but whatever it is the fact remains, I'm not your enemy anymore." He tried. Jack stood stunned, watching the yeti and elves going on about their business as if everything was normal.

"I'm calling bull on that." Jack spat. Pitch heaved a heavy sigh and sat down at the desk that was now in the globe room.

"I thought you'd say that, and you have every right, but I'm not your enemy. I wasn't always fear, you know." He offered quietly. Jack couldn't help a pang of sympathy. The Guardians hadn't even heard him out on Easter and he had a much better track record than Pitch did. Then he remembered Sandy…and his train of thought derailed violently.

"Wait…are…is this a dream or…did I dream that…" He suddenly had the most massive headache of his life.

"I believe we are in a shared dream." Pitch provided as simply as he could.

"But is that?" Jack shook his head.

"Stop thinking about them." Pitch offered. The moment his thoughts strained back to the dream they were in his headache subsided. He hadn't realized he had opened his eyes but when he did he was in a dream-version of the Warren.

"Alright, so what's going on?" He asked.

"I don't think I can explain in here." Pitch offered apologetically. "Aside from that this is a dream and the outer world is nothing like what you know, I can't say." He offered, trying to avoid giving him another migraine.

"Alright, so…" Jack started suspiciously. "What do you mean, you weren't always Fear?" He asked cautiously. Pitch sat, folding his legs and leaning up against a tree.

"When I was young, about your age, I had been doing my job as the spirit of courage through dreams, but not only that, I was what all the guardians are now, collectively, minus yourself of course." He took a breath and closed his eyes. "I was told, by Mani, that I had a new job, to be the first Guardian of Childhood. I would protect them and their innocence as best I could. I did this job, for a time, but as with everything good it hit a snag."

"Yeah?" Jack sat at another tree across from him, realizing that there was no need to worry about him harming him, it was a dream after all, and he seemed sincere. Over the years Jack had learned to tell, even at the South Pole on Easter he had been sincere, but now it was plain that Pitch had actually changed. He decided then and there to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Pitch couldn't help his small, sad smile. "Yeah. Other spirits were angry that I had been chosen, elevated, by Mani when they believed they were more worthy of such an honor." He explained.

"Sounds familiar." Jack pointed out. Pitch gave him a sympathetic nod.

"It does."

"What happened?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"They attacked. Father Time, Mother Nature, and a whole slew of more powerful spirits all the way up to Gaia herself. Between them they managed to…well let's say, relieve, me of most of my magic. I was left with only what made me Courage and they disbursed, leaving me to die." He shook his head, angry. "I should have picked myself up and went on with my life, knowing Mani would help, or at least send someone my way. Instead I was furious and I let that get the better of me just long enough for something to, well, snap. Granted I was incredibly drained and injured, but I should have handled it better. I thought that there was no better way than to accept the power of Fear. I remember thinking that I was doing it for the children, but I messed up, made a fool of myself and convinced myself that I could handle it." He trailed off bitterly. Jack suddenly felt bad for the guy.

At some point during this story the scenery had changed to being in Sandy's dream palace and he picked at the golden rug idly while thinking of what he could say.

"Sounds like you got the crap end of the stick." Jack commented lightly. Pitch couldn't help a chuckle.

"I'm not the first and I won't be the last." He offered.

"Yeah, but you say it like you purposely decided to become the living embodiment of Fear for laughs. You thought it would help the children." Jack pointed out.

"That doesn't make it a better decision, and it doesn't erase all the pain and fear that was caused because of it." He explained his bitterness and Jack made a decision right there.

"Alright Pitch, I believe you." He surprised the man so much he sat upright fast enough to fall over. Jack laughed a genuine, friendly laugh and offered him a hand-up which he eyed for a second.

"Just like that?" He asked.

"Just like that. The version of you I know, he'd already have lost patience with me or tried to kill me." He offered with a shrug. Pitch tried not to cringe at that comment and took the offered hand which helped him to his feet, still stunned. "Sorry, but you know it's true." Jack apologized for the obvious sting that held but nudged his arm playfully.

"I suppose you're right." He admitted. Then a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes and the dreamscape changed. "But nothing says I can't…" He reached down into the snow for something and launched it at him. "…attack!"

Jack was stunned for a second when he took a snowball to the face. He let out the craziest laugh he had in what felt like forever then created one in his hand.

"Alright, you're on!" He yelled.

That real-time shared dream left them caked in dream snow and panting in exhaustion.

"So that's real Fun…it's been a while." Pitch admitted, obviously winded.

"You mean getting your butt handed to you?" He asked cheekily.

"Oh really? Who's hoodie…is the wrong…color?" He asked.

"Oh this? You got lucky." He teased.

"Luck, sure." He grinned, loving the feeling of being social. He had missed it more that he realized. That part of him that remained himself for all that time had longed for this, and he could scarcely believe it was real.

"So, what happened in the real world to prompt this?" he asked.

"Jack you know if I tell you, your head might actually explode." He half-joked.

"I know, but…in vague terms?" he tried. Pitch sighed, he didn't know if he meant to give him puppy-dog eyes but he was. He caved.

"Alright…Mani did something to try to achieve exactly this, that involved…incapacitating, all of you. It's nothing bad, but in order for you to be healthy and return to normal I've had to become a Guardian again. I've been keeping the lights going while you're, well…and I need to…well, um…fix something and I think that's all I can tell you without hurting your brain." He chuckled. "Eloquent." He rolled his eyes at his own explanation.

Jack was chuckling off to his side. "Right? That was actually helpful. Do you think I'll remember this?" He asked.

"I doubt it." His face darkened a bit, "but I will, and you have no idea how much this means." He offered as he sat up.

"Maybe when we go back to normal, whatever that means, I will." He offered, trying to make him feel better. Both of them had the same thought about how weird that was but neither one mentioned it, and they were both wonderful actors. Pitch gave him a grateful smile.

"I hope so." He tilted his head to the side. "You're going to wake up soon."

"How…how can you tell?" he asked.

"I have Sandy's magic for the time being." He offered.

"Sandy can tell those things?!" He asked, eyes wide upon realizing how many times Sandy had obviously pretended that Jack had still been asleep when he must have KNOWN he wasn't.

"Why is that so shocking?" Pitch asked through a chuckle.

"Oh, it's not I'm just realizing how many times he must have covered for me." He shook his head, laughing at the memories.

"That doesn't surprise me at all." Pitch grinned, remembering the many times he had encountered the happy little man. (Encountered being a loose term, as any happy memories usually didn't include Sandy seeing HIM.)

At that point Jack closed his eyes and blinked awake in his empty apartment, confused and more than startled about where his little siblings were. It took him a full minute to remember that they were upstairs with the Bennetts. He ran his hands through his hair and got dressed. He wasn't sure why, he was on break, but he felt the need. As he made breakfast he realized how much of a parent he had become, because as much of a drain they could sometimes be he missed the little ones. He was worried, even though they were safe, and he had a strong, selfish urge to run upstairs and gather them back up.

"No Jack, you need to relax. If you can't be on you're a-game you can't take care of them." He chastised himself aloud. He couldn't remember when he had started that habit. He had always been quiet because of his parents, hadn't he?

He tried to shake the thought off and made himself be like every other college student in town, so he sat down and watched TV, read, played games and napped all day until Mrs. Bennett let herself in and a hyper quintet of energy rushed him. The smile on his face could light up entire continents.

"Hey! How were the little devils?" Jack asked purposely loudly.

"They were wonderful, and someone's feeling better." He was then handed a bundle of sleepy blonde grins and giggles.

"Really? Hey there Sandy, you feelin' better buddy?" He asked, Sandy nodded with a huge smile. He sneezed once but he looked so much less miserable than before.

"Tell him about the dreams!" Jamie urged. His mom giggled and shook her head while the loudening chorus of voices started to pick up steam. She hushed them and Sandy started to sign like lightning.

"Woah there buddy, slow down, what dream?" He asked. Sandy obliged him but being a sleepy toddler it was still hard to see.

"Want me to tell him?" Aster asked, peeking around Jack to see his baby brother. Sandy nodded and let his head fall back down on Jack's chest.

"We all talked about it and we think we had the same dream." He offered. "About you and someone we think use to be bad but he's not anymore. And you had a snowball fight with him and you made friends." He offered.

"Woah no way! I had that dream! I don't remember it that well, but I remember him saying something that won me over. Don't know what it was though." He strained to remember the dream but ended up with a throbbing headache. Sandy signed 'friend' and Jack's head exploded in on him, almost causing him to double over and lose his grip on the boy.

"Jack?!" Jamie and his mother both called in unison. They even harmonized a bit.

"I don't know where that came from. It…it happened this morning too, but that was early. It's just…just a headache." He tried to assure her, squeezing his eyes shut as tight as he could.

"Here sweetie, come here Sandy." She scooped the boy back up and led Jack to the couch to sit.

"It's fine, really." He insisted.

"It doesn't look fine." Aster insisted. Something about his voice seemed too old, gruff…and his accent…

"Ow…" Another shooting pain through his head made its way into his spine and made him want to vomit.

"Jack? Honey lay back down I'll get you something to take the edge off." She soothed quietly, rubbing circles into his back. He looked up and saw that Aster had Sandy, Jamie had scooped up Anna and Nick was under the boy's free arm as Anna was really small. All of them looked worried.

"Relax guys, it's no biggie." He offered, trying to soothe them. Aster gave him a…odd but familiar look. He doubled over.

"Shh, easy sweetie. Jamie, please go grab some medicine from upstairs." Jamie nodded and looked between Anna and Nick.

"Sure mom, hey guys wanna go on an adventure?" He asked, they nodded as the distraction took hold. Jack grinned through the pain, Jamie would be a great big brother. Wasn't he already? Wait how would he know that? His head exploded again.

"Jack? Come on sweetie." He finally let her lead him back to his bedroom and tuck him under a thousand blankets for some reason. He mentally chuckled at the thought of what she would do if he was actually cold. He wasn't really sure what to think about what was happening but she didn't really give him time to question it. She ruffled his hair, smoothed it out of his face and started to hum. Suddenly something occurred to him.

"You remind me of someone I knew." He offered sleepily, drowsiness hitting him like a brick for seemingly no reason.

"Who's that honey?" She asked sweetly.

"I…I don't…remember." He scrunched up his face trying to bring the memory out and that just caused a wave of nausea.

"Shh, easy sweetie, don't worry about it. Relax, deep breaths." She cooed. He didn't realize Jamie had come in until suddenly her hand was gone from his head and he heard a pill-bottle opening. "Here you go sweetie, this'll help." She helped him up and he took the medicine easily.

"I swear I have no idea where this came from." He muttered in utter confusion.

"I know, I know. Don't worry about it sweetie." She urged, humming until he fell asleep. When he finally closed his eyes and drifted off she made her way out to the others for supervision purposes.

_If only he knew how much he was helping me and Jamie, being a part of this wonderful family of his. _Her mind wandered as she watched Aster and Jamie playing with Anna and Nick, trading off the snuggling of their youngest. _They may never replace her, but at least it helps fill the void. Even if it's just a little bit. She would have absolutely loved to meet them. _

**Happy end-of-the-semester/end-of-finals/Merry Christmas/break as it applies to you! I just want to say a great big ol' THANK YOU SO MUCH for the reviews and the follows/faves. That stuff keeps it going and it makes me so much more excited to write. You have no idea how much it means to know someone is actually reading this/cares if it's updated. Any review at all is a great one! Thank you so much! Here y'all are and I hope ya like it! You are wonderful people! :)**


	11. Chapter 11-Motherly Love

**Chapter Eleven-Motherly Love**

When Pitch woke up at the Pole, he had a much easier time than Jack had in getting his bearings. He stretched, feeling much better after his nap, and looked around for Phil. He was, of course, frantic about if everything was alright. After reassuring him he went back to his "new job" with renewed passion. Sandy was sick because he had let himself get drug into a fight that shouldn't have happened. He decided to stay at the pole until he was at full power again, just to be safe.

As Jack woke up he got a mental image of a smiling Pitch whose skin was actually flesh-tone instead of grey and the fact that he registered that information sent him into another fit of nausea. He tried to breathe, maybe push it back and think clearly but it didn't work. He wished he could have a thought without almost vomiting. He was beginning to wonder if there was something seriously wrong with him when Mrs. Bennett knocked on his door. His guess was that he had made noise when he had the nausea a moment before.

"Yeah?" he called.

"Jack, are you feelin' any better?" She asked sweetly, pushing the door open with her hip and scooting in with a tray of food. His eyes bugged out when he saw what she was doing, he really didn't know what to think.

"Oh, um…better I think." He went to sit up and every muscle in his body screamed at him in utter defiance of moving. Jessica Bennett chuckled sweetly, setting the tray down and pushing him back down gently, knowing he was just going to keep trying if she didn't make him relax.

"Spoke too soon, did we?" She asked. He chuckled.

"Probably, what's…?" He trailed off, eyeing the tray behind her in question.

"Oh, that's breakfast sweetie." She said, trying not to giggle. He rolled his eyes playfully while her back was turned and when she turned back around he was smiling in a "woah this is actually happening' type way. That amazement that someone would do this for him was as heartwarming as it was heart_breaking_.

"Thank you! Wow…oh! How's Sandy?" He asked, suddenly waking up enough to remember that he was sick.

"He's so much better but I think you got the ick from him." She offered. Jack cringed.

"I really hope this is nothing like what he had." He said in horror. He was on fire, his head was pounding and he could barely see straight when he had…well when he thought about that dream.

"I doubt it's the same thing, but taking care of someone like that, it'll mess with your immune system." She explained calmly. "You're trying to burn the candle at both ends." She gave him a 'cut it out' look that just screamed teacher to Jack and he had to giggle. She had made him coffee and he currently had his face buried in it. The steam felt amazing and every drink loosened him up a little more. She handed him another pain pill which he accepted and she turned back to the door.

"I know you're out there, come on." She called. Jamie stuck his head in with Aster and all the little ones in tow. Jessie waved him in.

"Hi Jack." He grinned excitedly, seeing him sitting with the mostly-eaten tray of food in his lap and a smile on his face. He would be fine.

"Hey kiddo!" He greeted happily. "They been gettin' you into trouble?" He asked, eyeing his siblings teasingly. They made various faces of amusement and mock insult.

"We aren't that bad!" Aster protested through a grin.

"Nah, they're not the trouble-makers." Jamie supplied, grinning at Aster the whole time.

With a nod of approval from Jessie Bennett the whole lot ended up curling up on Jack's bed to play cards and board games. He had been fine until he tried to get up so Mrs. Bennett insisted he stay put, and this was a wonderful solution. His siblings had been missing their favorite playmate. Sandy and Jack might nod off at a point or two and wake back up during their turns, but that didn't bother them. It was a wonderful day and Jack felt amazing when it ended. He carried medicine with him when he was out and about afterword but headaches didn't follow him anymore.

Soon though, it was time to get back into a sleeping schedule with the little ones so that the return to school wouldn't be as bad. By this point Pitch had picked himself back up and was visiting them more often. The little ones had told Jack about their new friend the Boogeyman who wasn't scary and he couldn't handle how cute it was. They were being kids for once, real kids without fear and it warmed his heart. He also realized that they definitely shared his enthusiastic imagination. How could they be making this up?!

"Yeah Jack! Fun fun fun!" Anna giggled, bouncing up and down on her bed. Jessie was peaking in, leaning on the doorframe while he put them to bed. They had taken to having dinner together at Jack's every night.

"Alright kiddo, I get the idea." He chuckled, trying to pull the blankets up around the silly girl.

"He was different this time, too!" Nick commented, back from his and Aster's room to join the conversation.

"How so?" He asked, genuinely interested in the plot-twist they had come up with.

"He was darker, like he got a tan." Anna supplied sleepily. She was starting to yawn, being wrapped up in all the warm, cozy blankets of her bed.

"Really? You think he went on vacation?" He asked, coming up with a slew of creative ideas to explain this in his head, but they all shook their heads in unison, Jamie included.

"Nah, we think he's getting better." Nick provided.

"Better? Was he sick?" Jack asked. Heads nodded, including one who was outside, sad smile on his face. If only he knew.

"Yeah! The moon is helping him!" Anna part-cheered part-yawned. Jack and Jamie's mom both chuckled at her great enthusiasm and determination to stay awake.

"Alright sweetie, you can tell me about it tomorrow, okay? All of you. Go on, bed time." He shooed Aster and Nick with a pointed look. Sandy hopped up into his bed and curled up to wait patiently for his tuck-in. Jack had to smile. He wouldn't tell anyone, but Sandy was his favorite sometimes. He loved all of them with everything he had, no doubt, but Sandy was special. He was just a little bit closer with him, and he had never figured out why.

There was something about that kid that made him special to Jack, and for a moment he thought he knew why. He stopped in the hall, just for a moment, and got a tiny hint of an idea. That dream that he had came flooding back to him. His memory giving him a still-life of himself but looking very, very different. Then there was an image of the Sand Man, and Jack felt like he knew him.

Before he could make the connection a searing headache ripped through him, causing him to catch himself on the wall. He took a deep breath and pushed the image, and thought, back in his mind. To his shock, it worked.

"Jack? Are you okay?" Jessie asked, poking her head around the corner from where she had been in the kitchen. He nodded and replaced the big, beaming smile on his face by remembering Anna's excitement. _So I have some experimenting to do later, was that coincidence or…_ he mused as he sat back down on the couch.

"Yeah, ooh is that what I think it is?" he asked cautiously taking the plate and fork he was offered.

"It is." She grinned, taking her place beside him. Jamie had gone upstairs to bed and she had pulled a sneaky little surprise trick.

"Chocolate lava cake, mmmm." Jack muttered, inhaling the steam from the freshly reheated treat. "Thanks, but how did you manage this so quickly?" He asked in awe.

"I made them last night and I brought them down earlier when we had dinner, they don't take long to re-heat." She explained with a grin on her face that just spread to Jack like wildfire. Sometimes he couldn't decide if she was more like his momma or like an adult friend, and he loved that. He didn't like being coddled, but she was so good at making him feel better about it that he had been better taken care of that year than he could ever remember.

With Jack distracted by that cake, Pitch figured he had time to talk to the little ones.

"Pitch!" Anna had whispered excitedly when he tapped their window. Sandy clapped (quietly) and giggled his soundless little giggle.

"Hey there Anna, Sandy! There's my little buddy. Come here." He scooped the boy up who had raised his arms to be held. Pitch sat back down on his bed with him, giving the boy a little tickle because he knew he couldn't actually make a racket.

"I think Jackie believes more now." Anna offered, curling up next to him on Sandy's bed.

"Good job! You're doing better with not reminding him about the dream too, like we talked about, right?" Sandy nodded and signed 'better' with a stern nod and "serious face". Pitch couldn't help his giggle. He let out a deep, contented breath and let them snuggle into him a little closer.

"Alright, so I have a plan." He admitted after a long moment. They squirmed and looked up at him in question.

"What is it?" Anna asked sleepily.

"Well, we need Jack to believe, right?" They nodded. "So I need you to believe as much as you possibly can, and talk to him about it as much as you can without being upsetting, because he might not like hearing about it all the time. Then get him to tell you stories." He waited.

"Stories?" Anna asked, head tilting to the side. It was precious.

"Yes, stories about the guardians of childhood. Don't elaborate, let him come up with it himself. He'll get a little headache." He drew out the word 'little', pinching his finger and thumb together on one hand and squinting one eye. "but it'll go away when he's talking, and hopefully the more he tells you the better he'll feel and the more he'll remember about that dream. He needs to remember that dream." He explained.

"Why does he need ta remember the dream?" She asked through a yawn, having just looked over at Sandy and seen his question in his eyes and understood his quick little sign.

"Because, Jack is something very special, so are you. He needs that dream to remember." He offered simply. Rather than the slew of questions he expected he got quiet acceptance and two little sleepy kids curled up on him. He heard Jack talking about sleep and decided now would be a good time to split.

"Alright, come on Anna, back to bed. I've got to go now." He offered quietly, calmly. It was such a soothing tone that neither of them actually woke up for it. Once Anna was tucked in, and not a second later to Pitch's shock and near coronary, Jack walked in quietly.

As Jack basically crashed on his bed, Pitch couldn't help the instinct to pull the blankets over the boy who had barely managed to land on the bed at all. He curled around himself as the blanket was pulled up and when Pitch pushed a pillow over to his head his unconscious mind decided to cuddle it. He pulled it into a hug that tucked it under his head and Pitch had to suppress his 'aww' so he didn't wake Anna or Sandy. That was an image he wasn't about to forget anytime soon.

**Alright, he has a plan, and Jack is about to have some Matrix stuff happen to him. (No I don't actually plan on referencing that, I'm kidding I swear.) I hope you like! :)**

**As always, you are wonderful people, please R&R! Thank you in advance!**


	12. Chapter 12-Story Time

**Chapter Twelve-Story Time**

When Jack woke up his head was swimming. There was a stabbing, throbbing pain radiating through him but there was nothing he absolutely needed to do that day, so he focused on what he was trying to think about and ignored the pain.

_They think the Boogeyman is their friend. He's nice now, even though he wasn't before. They saw me in a dream, happy and laughing having been convinced of that. I can't just ignore this. My gut says that maybe there's something going on here. _He forced himself to think about the dream. Suddenly that conversation came crashing down on him and he rolled over to wretch into the basket that had been by his bed for a few nights now.

"Jackie?" Anna's worried voice cut through the haze.

"Yeah Anna?" He asked, trying not to look like he was dying.

"Are you okay Jackie?" She asked, scooting off her bed and running up to him, eyes wide.

"I'll be alright Anna, it's just a headache." He explained softly. She remembered what Pitch had told her and grinned.

"It's okay Jackie, it's just 'cause a that dream. If you don't think 'bout you feel better again." She offered sleepily, pulling herself up to sit on his bed.

"That so?" He asked with a grin. As it turned out she was right, and that was a little scary.

"Mmmhmm. Pitch told us 'bout it last night. He came to say hi." She offered.

"Now when did he do that?" He asked.

"After dinner." She offered as she curled up beside him to try to return to the wonderful dreams she had been having. Sandy opened an eye and grinned before rolling back over, unconcerned. He knew Jack would be okay, his new friend had said so.

When Jack finally rolled out of bed a few hours later it was to the sounds of chuckling and a very rambunctious set of boys in the living room. He yawned and stretched, poking Anna until she woke up giggling and scooping a no longer sick Sandy up out of his bed to go make breakfast. Once everyone got thoroughly sticky with pancake syrup Jamie came knocking excitedly on his door, his mom giggling behind him.

"Jamie!" Nick and Anna yelled, excited to see what was quickly becoming their favorite friend.

"Hey guys, did Pitch come see you too?" he asked quietly. They all nodded. Evidently Aster and Nick had been his first stop of the night.

"So how are we gonna get him to tell us stories?" Nick asked.

"Ask." Jamie supplied simply. "A whole lot might have changed about him, but he still loves to tell stories."

"So…when?" Aster asked.

"Well…after he's up fully." Jamie suggested.

"Good thinkin'." Aster nodded.

They decided to occupy themselves with a couple card games until they felt that Jack was up for story time. Back in the kitchen he and Jamie's mom were sipping coffee and talking about the next semester's schedule changes.

"I think it'll work much better this semester. I've given myself more time with them. Plus I'm thinking about trying to work on campus somewhere so I can be close to them. Maybe even at the daycare." He said excitedly.

"That's a wonderful idea Jack! I'll put in a good word for you if you'd like." She offered.

"That'd be nice, thanks. I just need to let my boss know I'm considering it so they can replace me if I get the job." He reasoned. "I need to apply and make sure my chances are good and I need to be sure there's not a paycheck in there that I'm gonna miss." He fretted.

"Jack, I'll help you out, you know that right?" She asked with a smile, hand on his shoulder.

"You've been so amazing already, I should really know better than to assume you won't by now." He ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "It just feels wrong. You barely know me, or you did, and it's like you're giving us all this for nothing and-" She stopped him mid-thought.

"Jack. Sweetie, you've done enough by yourself." She observed. He sighed, not even bothering with the pretending that he didn't get it. He did. He knew what she was talking about and he just chuckled at himself and smiled at her.

"One day you'll pound that into my head." He teased.

"That's the plan." She prodded through a chuckle and into her mug.

Pitch was hovering outside, unseen by anyone, and hoping silently that Jack never got that far. He wanted the boy back to normal because being the spirit of Winter and guardian of Fun had to be better than working paycheck to paycheck in a pathetic scrambling attempt to get a degree and keep his siblings alive.

Jack and Jessica watched the kids play every game imaginable and when they were pulled in they managed to forget about the world for a while. When they were about to get lunch they collapsed into piles around the adults and begged for a story.

"Alright, alright. What do you want to hear about?" he asked them.

"The Guardians." Jamie offered. Jack got a mental image and a slight throbbing in his head. As he convinced himself that it was his imagination and the story Jamie had told when they moved in working, the headache went away and slowly progressed and receded as he spoke.

"Alright, The Guardians Of Childhood it is." He rubbed his hands together in preparation, getting them invested. "Now these are all the people you think about when you think of the legendary people we can't see all the time." His voice hushed, captivating them even though they knew about these people, they loved hearing Jack tell stories and he knew how to keep them invested. He took them on a journey through the Guardian's lives.

_"_The Sand Man, better known to his friends as Sandy, was doing his thing. He's a little bit on the short side, but he never did mind that. He was completely golden, made of the dreams he disbursed to the children of the world. He was trying to remember what day it was, because when you follow the nighttime part of the world for a living you tend to forget, and realized it was the Guardian's meeting night. As he sent out the last of the dreams for that night he headed off to the North Pole, where they met every month to talk about how they were doing with the kids and catch up as friends.

Sandy was actually the first one to arrive in the meeting room this time, which was odd for him as he was so busy, but he settled down in a chair by a fireplace to wait. It was Santa's living room and it was huge, to account for all the people that had to come and go from the pole. He himself wasn't really called Santa that often, especially among his friends. His name was Nicolai Saint North, and they just called him North for short. He was the Guardian of Wonder.

He was very tall, with the long white beard and hair you'd expect, but he wasn't chubby and quiet like the stories say. No, North was huge, in muscle and admittedly a little flab that mostly came from his natural build, and he was Russian. Sometimes he would mess up English phrases which was where Ho Ho Ho came from, it was just a mistake he made, and it's pretty accurate to the way he actually laughs. It's loud, and ringing, and he uses his whole body when he speaks. His laugh shakes his shoulders and will really scare you if you aren't paying attention.

He was the next one to arrive in the meeting room, stopping his work carving out toys a bit early to make sure everyone was there and that he didn't miss the meeting.

'Sandy! Early today, what brings you here on time this month?' He teased. Sandy raised an eyebrow at him and golden symbols started to flash above his head. That's how Sandy talks, see he uses his sand to make symbols because he can't speak. He doesn't mind that either, don't worry. In his line of work being mute is more helpful than you might think.

He started to tease North about growing out his beard and they picked at each other in friendly banter for a bit before the Tooth Fary came. She was brightly colored in blue, green, and gold with pink on her eyes, like permanent make up. Her huge, purple eyes were bright with excitement over the last couple baby-teeth that had come in, and she almost flew into the wall when she came in. She guarded Memories and the lessons we learn from them.

'Woah, Tooth! Watch out!' North caught the poor woman before she could bowl herself over on a chair. With his arm hooked around her waist she finally snapped out of the haze that collecting all the teeth from all the children in the world sometimes got her into.

'Oh, sorry. I hope I didn't break anything! Are we still waiting on some?' She asked.

'Only Bunny.' He offered. She turned to see Sandy waving at her happily.

'Oh, hi Sandy! So why is Bunny the last one this time, usually it's you.' She teased. Sandy rolled his eyes with a little playful smile. They weren't being mean and he knew it. He made a symbol to show her hitting a billboard. She laughed and her feathers puffed out.

'Well I almost did.' She admitted sheepishly.

It was about then that a little hole in the ground opened and produced the Easter Bunny. He's no ordinary bunny either kids, he was larger than life, like his friends. He wasn't what you'd expect. He was about seven feet tall, and he was Australian. He carried boomerangs in holsters on his back, and something tells me he wouldn't appreciate being called cute either. He was the Guardian of Hope.

They were talking about everything they were doing that month when-"

He was just about to jump into the actual plot when Jamie caught his attention and derailed him.

"But what about Jack Frost?" He asked. "He's a guardian too." He insisted.

"Well not yet he's not. This happened before they knew about him, before he was even born." Jack told them, getting around adding a character with his name. It was odd and he really didn't feel like telling a story using his own name. He would bust out laughing he just knew it.

"Jamie, it's not nice to interrupt." His mom shot him a gentle warning look that had Jack chuckling.

"Sorry." He mumbled shyly.

"Oh don't worry about it, this is an interactive story!" Jack saved him from the dreaded mom-stare of death and doom.

"Alright, go on sweetie." She gave Jack's arm a pat and handed him a mug of the cocoa she had made during the course of the introduction.

"Okay, where was I?" He asked, pretending to forget where he left off.

"Meeting!" Anna offered.

"Well yeah, you're right. They had meetings every month where they'd talk about what had happened through the year and this time everyone was having a really similar problem. It came to their attention that everyone had been seeing weird things." He offered vaguely enough to prompt questions.

"What was it, Jack?" Nick asked excitedly. "What were they seeing?"

"Well, first Tooth said that she had seen her faries come back with paint all over them and none of them seemed to know how it had gotten there. She figured some kids were being messy but it was always pastel paints and it wasn't always from the same town, or house. She thought that was just weird enough to mention and North chimed in saying that he had noticed that some of the letters he was getting had paints on them too." He let that sink in for a second. Even Jamie's mom was interested at this point.

"So, what happened with Sandy, what did he see?" Aster asked.

"Well, he started to get paints on his sand when it would come back to him after giving a good dream." He explained, giving them a chance to put it together. "Then Bunny thought of something.

'Mates, what did the paints look like? What did they smell like?' He asked them excitedly.

'Well, they were just pastel colors, like yellow and blue and green.' Tooth explained. Sandy and North both nodded in agreement. Bunny's ears flipped back and flattened to his head as he realized what those paints must have been, but he decided he needed to be a little more certain.

'Alright, but the smell, what was that like?' he asked again.

'Didn't really smell like anything, maybe a little fresh grass but that is it.' North supplied. They all nodded again and Bunny stood up.

'Hold on, let me check something.' He qualified as he hopped down through a hole he made by tapping his foot." Jack had them all leaning forward, what would happen?!

"So what did he find?!" Jamie pulled him out of his dramatic pause.

"All his paints were missing!" He threw his hands up. "He couldn't find them at all! He was super worried too, because he needed them for his eggs for Easter, and to color his dye river which he used to dye his eggs with or to use under his designs. They all looked for his paints all day long and when they found them they couldn't believe their eyes." He scrambled in his brain for the ending of the story because he honestly hadn't thought that far ahead. Usually he would work them out later for his own curiosity but they were generally asleep by now. "There were elves, running around with Bunny's cans of paint and tossing them into portals." He let them ask what they wanted to know.

"Were they playing a prank?" Jamie asked, having seen these elves and wanting to know what Jack thought of them.

"Oh no, they were just having fun. They aren't the elves you'd think of from the stories we're told. They're much less part of the toy-making process than you would think. They really are more like pets." He offered, not wanting to outright say that they were stupid. That would have been mean. He didn't know where his twisted version of these tales were coming from, but he saw them as animals, not really part of things.

"But who makes the toys?" Nick asked, enthralled. Jamie was trying so hard not to crack up when he remembered who he was sitting with. Santa was asking about his own home. He almost couldn't handle it.

"Well he has friends, the Yeti, they make the toys." He offered.

After about another hour of telling them about this world that he thought he had fabricated they broke for lunch. Pitch had caught most of this and when they broke to make/order/decide on lunch Pitch caught Jamie's eye through the window. Jamie shot him a quick thumbs-up and Pitch nodded with a huge grin, letting him know he understood why he was about to die laughing. He tried Sandy's trick, making a little clock that Jamie took to mean he had to go, he'd be back and he nodded.

They finished deciding on the food they'd have (pizza) and Jack settled down to tell the stories. A part of him kept nagging at him that it was real, but he pushed it down, how silly would that be?

**Alright done, I did it, another chapter. Please let me know what you think and while I'm thinking about it, Merry Christmaquanzica! (I know not everyone does Christmas) and a happy New Year! Thanks for reading and I love me some reviews! Y'all are wonderful people. **

**Also, the reviews are making my day! **


	13. Chapter 13-Sympathy Pains

**Chapter Thirteen**-**Sympathy Pains **

In the depths of the night, on the other side of the world, Pitch Black was going about his business hoping they could get everything sorted out before Jack tried to switch Jobs. He couldn't help thinking of the boy as just that, a boy. He needed to get back to his usual self as fast as possible.

As he worked he mulled over the possibilities for their return and how they would greet him. Likely he would die on the spot. He didn't expect a warm welcome, nor did he think he deserved one. He only hoped to be able to coexist with them, it was all he wanted. He didn't kid himself with the hopes and dreams of maybe joining the odd little mismatched family they had made for himself, he had no right. He had caused too much, even if it hadn't exactly been him. Even though it wasn't his fault that some of those things happened, he still took that burden on himself. If he had been smarter in the beginning the Fear wouldn't have been able to take over.

"You can't kill fear." Something on the wind whispered to him, causing a shudder. It was an echo of his own words so long ago it seemed.

"I didn't try. I banished it from my soul." He insisted calmly, not turning to look for who he knew was there. He wouldn't give it the satisfaction.

"You took my essence into you, gave it new life. You will not cast me out so easily." The original soul of the Boogeyman, of nighttime terrors and monsters under beds stood eyeing him from the shadows.

"Boogey. Be gone. I fell for your tricks once, it is a mistake I don't intend to repeat." He hissed angrily.

"No. You were my predecessor, and you were doing so very well. I can't do my job like this, Pitch. You will be the Boogeyman once more, mark my words." His voice was rough, like scraping metal. It made the hairs on Pitch's arms stand on end.

"You took advantage of a new spirit, desperate to protect the children of the world. Had I been unwounded and of sound mind I would NEVER have agreed to that. You used me to your own sick, twisted ends and I refuse to believe in your power again. I will never touch the power of fear again." He spat, wanting so much to scream but it would do no good. Boogey's laugh echoed around him maddeningly.

"My son, you have no choice." He dissipated, but Pitch still couldn't shake that horrible feeling that he had once again unleashed a powerful enemy. He knew what to do, but without the other five chosen Guardians, and re-taking the oath himself, he couldn't trap Fear again. He was weak, that gave him a better shot, but time was dwindling.

"Mani, I hope you realize the mess you've put me in." Pitch mumbled. He wasn't expecting an answer so when Mani's voice rang through his head he nearly fell out of the sky.

_"__I admit this was…unintended. I had thought Boogey's essence had dwindled, which was why this plan helped to exorcise him from you. I hadn't realized that he would still be strong enough to maintain his sentience." _Mani admitted tensely.

"Well now we've got a time-crunch." He griped to his friend and borderline parent. "Not to mention that they aren't likely to be happy when they see me in their usual form. How am I supposed to get them to believe me before they outright murder me?" He asked desperately, frustration and fear filling him to the brim until he couldn't contain himself. Mani was, after all, the only outlet for this he had.

_"__I know, please try to calm down. I will not let them kill you." _He offered, his heart broke for his newly rediscovered son. That he had put him through this was more than he cared to think of. He regretted choosing him not because he did a bad job, but because had he not been chosen his life would have been so much better. It was his dedication to his cause that had brought Boogey to him, and he wished he had been fast enough to save him from that curse.

Pitch sighed heavily and turned back to the golden sand he was directing.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry."

_"__Do not be sorry. I understand your worry, I do. Please know that this time, I will be able to help you. Boogey will NOT possess you again, I swear it." _He didn't know who he was trying to convince, Pitch or himself.

"I believe you, Mani. I know what happened that day, and that was my failing, not yours." Pitch assured. "Now, old friend, I've got work to do." He smiled his goodbye as he watched the moon fade from the sky. He would find a way.

He couldn't believe that some of his old memories were real, and in many ways Jack could relate about then.

"So the elves?" Jack asked, Jamie was telling his story now.

"Yeah, they weren't really the workers, he just let them think so. They were really nice, most days, but they just weren't the…intellectuals in the group." Jack nodded thoughtfully. This was fitting into his dream from earlier too well. They really had been in it with him, not the oddest thing to have happened, all things considered. He was starting to wonder how true the whole situation really was.

That didn't mean, of course, that he was going to up and believe in Santa in one night. Of course that would be ridiculous, wouldn't it? He was almost nineteen, had taken care of his four younger siblings almost all of his life, he couldn't believe in magic because magic just wasn't real. He was, though, starting to consider the "imaginary" Guardian's centers, and realized that he fit one of their rolls stunningly well.

He was starting to understand that all his life he had been the one to make a game out of their misfortunes, hide and seek, fetch the ball, scatter. He was the one that made everything bearable and kept them the kids they deserved to be. He hadn't thought about it like that before, but he was now.

He was also starting to see what they saw. He saw wonder in everything! Lights in the trees and magic in the air! He didn't know why he was thinking about it with that sentence, or why he heard it in his mind with a thick Russian lilt, but he was. He also couldn't help but see hope in their eyes. With Jamie and his mom in their lives, they had hope, beautiful hope. He knew that things would work out and for once in his life, he would be okay, his siblings would be okay. Their dreams were coming true, and he was beginning to let his dreams for the future fly through his mind as he would never have allowed them to before. He did, however, manage to forget about that horrid past. He locked those memories away and tossed them into the ocean, keeping only precious few which seemed to dull in comparison to his present.

"Well, go on then, what did they do?" he asked.

"Well," Jamie started, "they were always running around, getting stepped on and in the way, so he decided that he should give them something to do." Jamie explained. "So, that's why he lets them think that they make toys with the yeti, so they stay occupied. It makes them really happy, too." He offered. That was the end of his story.

Sandy started a little round of applause and snuggled up to Jessica who had to suppress an 'aww' noise. They had all told their little stories and explanations about the guardians save one of them.

"Alright, it's Sandy's turn." Jack grinned at the boy who hadn't really ever had the full attention of more than one person at a time in his life. He was confused as to why everyone was looking at him, having just zoned out. Jessie chuckled and gave him a little squeeze.

"It's your turn to tell a story, Sandy." She grinned at the boy who looked like he could pop his eyes out of his sockets if he didn't blink soon. He gave Jack a questioning look that held everything from uncertainty to wondering how he was going to 'talk' to them.

"it's okay buddy, I'll help." He assured. Sandy nodded cautiously, trying to think of what he wanted to say. He had a billion stories in his brain, brilliant as he was, but he was also five. He was smart but not overly eloquent yet.

He ended up telling a story about the Sand Man giving out dreams which was almost too detailed to be from a five-year-old. Jack started to wonder if maybe the sleepy little boy was smarter than he let on. There was also some small part of Jack that was screaming at him to BELIEVE! He couldn't ignore that it was there, but he was too cynical to give it much thought. That was more than infuriating to the part of him that was Jack Frost.

He was stuck there, newly awakened and screaming at himself to get a grip and wake up! He was one of the guardians, they were sitting in front of him right now! They needed him to believe! That part of him was screaming so loud that he ended up with another headache. Somewhere out in the sky, giving dreams, Pitch was having a similar problem.

"You know you miss it, the power you wielded when we were one." Boogey enticed. Pitch ignored it, or pretended to, going on about his work. "Come on, Pitch, you were brilliant as the Boogeyman, and you know it." He tried once more. True he had sworn him as an enemy, but he would take him as an ally if at all possible. Little did he know that Pitch's will was too strong for him to ever willingly allow Boogey control over him as he once did.

He focused on all the wonderful dreams he was giving, all the wonder and magic, hoped and memories he was focused on in those dreams, making sure they still believed. He was directing the faries more and more as they realized they were a bit more scatterbrained without Tooth there to guide them. He had designated Baby Tooth to do most of that, but now he needed to take some of that load off her. She had been much more willing to listen than he had thought, but then again they knew his memories, so they knew better than most that he wasn't lying. Not to mention that she had seen Boogey with her own eyes many times before, when he WAS still one with him.

"I know, I can't thank you enough, but you need rest." He had assured the fary as he took his place in the middle of the shimmering palace several hours later. He couldn't really be "in the field" as Tooth could because that wasn't part of the magic he could access, but he could help them out in knowing where to go. Her knowledge as it leaked into him was beyond impressive. He hadn't collected teeth for memories when he had protected them. Then again, he was an overall protector of childhood, not of one particular asset of it.

Just then, he realized that there was something nagging at him, something important to know. Had he been Tooth he would have known, picked it out and interpreted it almost instantaneously. As it was he was happy he caught it at all.

"Can someone tell me what's happened to cause a light to alarm?" He asked, not knowing what the heck he had said, but knowing on instinct from Tooth's magic that he was right. A tooth fary fluttered up and informed him that there was a child with false memories that was beginning to realize that they couldn't really access them, that they were foreign.

"Does the child know that the memories are false or are they just realizing that they can't remember things?" He asked.

He was informed that they were not aware of the false memories.

"Well, who is it?" he asked.

One of the mini-faries guided him over to the small map which held Tooth's lights. He took a moment to realize he was doing a better job than he thought and allowed himself a relieved breath at the healthy glow emanating from it before he realized what she was indicating.

"That's Jack." He said deadpan and terrified. He didn't know if this was a very good thing or an incredibly disastrous one.

**Alright, much to my happy surprise I'm on a hot streak here! Thanks for sticking with it! As always, let me know what you think! No news isn't always good news and I love hearing what you have to say! Reviews keep me writing more than you know! You are all wonderful people.**


	14. Chapter 14-Fear

**Chapter fourteen-Fear**

On his way to Burgess he stopped to be sure the dream sand was still doing its job and he was pleasantly surprised. Shooting back to where he knew Jack would be, he stuck to the shadows until everyone went to bed. He decided Jamie might actually be his best bet.

"Pitch?" He was a bit confused, he didn't expect to see him again so soon.

"Jamie, I don't know why, but Jack is starting to forget the memories he was given of a human life. He can't remember most of them, and the rest are distant. I don't quite know how, but soon he won't remember anything past moving to your building." Pitch explained worriedly.

"Well that's good right? He'll know that he's Jack Frost then, won't he?" Jamie asked.

"That's the thing, I don't know. If we can't get him to believe before then he might just end up committed." Pitch was only half-joking, and Jamie didn't like the sound of that one bit.

"What do we do?" He asked.

"Well, we need him to believe, as soon as possible. The others already do but we need him in on it too. I'll probably need your help, too." He offered. He hadn't thought this far ahead yet, but now was as good a time as any. He was a child, after all, and Pitch still needed to re-read the oath. The added magic of Jamie's belief could really come in handy.

"Maybe we can just take him to the Pole." He suggested.

"How can we? He doesn't believe." Pitch pointed out.

"Yeah, but if I know Jack, and I like to think I can at least guess, if he sees the five of us talking to you, and maybe Sandy floating in the air with nothing under him, he will then. Plus, can't you use his magic? Make a snowflake like he always did and he'll believe!" Jamie provided, excited about his plan. It was vague enough to maybe work, and also to make Pitch more confused than he could ever remember being in his long, immortal life.

"Jamie, slow down." He tried, laughing as he did despite the seriousness of the situation. "What did Jack do?" he asked. This was the first he had ever heard about Jack's magic that wasn't just seasonal.

"He could make snowflakes and when they melted on your nose there was blue magic and it would make people see the fun in things, and him. It's what gave people that last push to believe in him when they were about to." Jamie explained choppily. He was obviously about to knock out for the night.

"Alright Jamie, I'll see about that. Remember though, he probably practiced it for a long time before he figured it out." Pitch cautioned.

"You've got a point." He shrugged tiredly.

"Alright, now you need to get some sleep. You're going to wear yourself out." Pitch teased. Jamie looked like he was about to argue but Pitch created one of Sandy's trademark balls of golden sand and bounced it a couple times with a smirk on his face. Jamie sighed and resigned to bedtime. Pitch couldn't help chuckling as he made his way back out his window. He was so much fun to be around, he could see why he and Jack had gotten on so well.

When a shadow flew past Jamie's window he felt a shiver up his spine and groaned silently. Boogey was less a threat than he was a nuisance at this point. With a quick roll of his eyes he shot out, enticing Boogey to follow him and leading him into daylight where he was forced to disband.

On his way back to Tooth Palace he mused about the possibilities for the next day. He could really help Jack, or on the other hand…

He shook out the negative thoughts he was having in favor of allowing himself to converse with the faries and distract himself from the task he was charged with. It would have become quickly overwhelming had he not been able to refocus, and thankfully the faries were more than willing to help. They loved to talk, to tell stories and laugh. He couldn't imagine how any part of him would ever have wanted to harm them. He wanted to destroy Boogey for all he had put them through. He saw Mani's light in the night sky and smiled fondly at his friend. He silently thanked him, because he knew all of this, the whole big mess, had ultimately been for family.

He had wanted the guardians to be closer as a family, that was true, but he had thought enough of Pitch to try again to dispel Boogey and it had worked. If he had thought his son lost Pitch wouldn't have blamed him and he couldn't for the life of him figure out where that hint had come from. How had he known that Pitch was still himself deep under the control of Boogey? How had he been able to see it when Pitch himself hadn't? That was why it had taken him so long, he thought. Boogey had convinced him that he was evil himself, that he had been acting on his own.

Pitch shuddered at the thought.

_All I need to do is keep him weak, just a little longer. _He assured himself.

Back at Jamie's place his mother was making herself some tea and reading a book when a dark shadow fell over her couch. She searched the room for the source of the shadow but found nothing. Finding nothing was almost worse than if someone had been standing over her with a weapon. She wished she knew what it was, and something in her gut was telling her it wasn't nothing. It had to be something. Had to be.

Pitch shivered, pausing in his work.

"What is it?" Baby Tooth asked, wringing her little hands, knowing something had to be wrong.

"I can feel something, like I'm still attached to him somehow." He shook his head. "It's likely nothing." He dismissed.

"With Boogey free, is that really a safe assumption to make?" She asked.

"It's never safe, but I can still feel his essence and I know he's still too weak to really do any damage." He assured her.

"And you're sure." She prodded. He sighed heavily.

"Not even a little." He shivered again, feeling the fear someone was feeling.

Jessica sat up straighter, chill working through her when a scary thought occurred to her.

"Jamie." She whispered. She had encountered this gut feeling once before, with her husband and Sophie, her youngest. She set her cup aside, putting the book down flat. After all, panic wouldn't help anyone, and she was probably imagining it. Still, that feeling wouldn't pass. As she got up she could swear the room darkened a bit.

On her way into Jamie's room the shadows seemed to thicken. Something felt very, very wrong. Jamie wasn't quick to fall asleep and she had only left him to go to bed an hour ago. He would usually still be awake, but she could hear nothing. Her heart skipped a few beats.

Pitch jumped. His heart was pounding. Something was wrong.

"Baby Tooth, I need to go. Boogey is causing fear and we're connected enough that I can feel it. Someone's in danger." He provided.

"Who?" She asked.

"I can feel him in Jack's building, I don't know where." He offered as he rocketed out of Tooth Palace in a panic.

When she opened his door she found him sleeping peacefully. She heaved a huge sigh of relief as she closed his door that didn't last long.

Pitch made it to the building in time to check around Jack's place. When he found something his sympathetic terror spiked enough to cause him to be light-headed.

"If he's not…" His eyes widened as he realized what was happening. He shot out the window and up to Jamie's room.

"Why hello Madame, I don't believe we've met." A rough voice greeted Jessica. She tried to stay silent as she spun to meet the source of the sound. She then came face-to-face with Boogey. Her eyes widened and she backed up against Jamie's now closed door.

Pitch made it in, going to pull open Jamie's door when he saw that the boy was safe. Someone in this apartment was in danger.

"Who are you?" She whispered, unable to contain her fear in the presence of his raw essence of terror.

Pitch froze.

"I'm fear." He whispered, putting his hands through her head, causing her to pass out. Pitch wrenched open the door and used every ounce of magic he had to rip through Boogey before he got any farther. Jamie shot straight up in bed in time to see Boogey dissipate and his mom collapse in Pitch's arms.

**I know, I know! Horrible cliffie! Please let me know what you think and definitely if this is getting confusing, please tell me! Hope you like it. Until next time! :) You are wonderful people!**


	15. Chapter 15-Changes

**Chapter fifteen-Changes**

"What happened?" He borderline screamed.

"Boogey was here." Pitch clipped out much harsher than he had intended in worry.

"What did he do?" He rushed to his mom's side.

"He sent her into the world of night-terrors." Pitch supplied quietly, horrified for her. "New plan. Pole. Now." He scooped her up and told Jamie to go downstairs. "Don't worry about Boogey, he's disbanded for now and he can't hurt you."

"What do I do?" He asked, panicking.

"Believe, Jamie. That's all you need to do, believe. Here, take a globe, get everyone into it, Jack included. Don't worry, if it breaks it'll be in your pocket again." He offered.

"Alright." He still looked scared.

"Jamie?" He stopped him, setting his mom down on the couch and placing his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Yeah?"

"You can do this. I believe." This prompted much more confidence and Jamie marching down the stairs with both sets of keys, ready to take on the world.

"JACK!" He called, almost screaming.

"Jamie? Jamie what's wrong? Are you alright? Where's your mom?" Jack asked quickly and calmly.

"Jack I can't explain, no time. You just need to believe me when I say we need to go right now!" He tried.

"Go where, Jamie?" Jack asked, not questioning the boy, but pulling on his coat and shoes.

"Hold on and I'll show you. Anna, Sandy wake up." He gently but urgently prodded. The two picked up his panic in a heartbeat and crowded into Jack. He figured that Jamie needed them badly, so he just helped them get their clothes on. He was too panicked for Jack to do anything other than listen to him, even if he wasn't saying much.

"Jamie?" He called, everyone put together. He heard Jamie, Nick and Aster talking and the three came in, fully dressed and ready to go. "Now, where are we going? What's happened?" Jack asked again.

"This is going to sound crazy, but we need to go to the North Pole." Jamie offered, fully expecting Jack to laugh or be angry, bracing himself for it, in fact.

"The North Pole." Jack stated dumbly. His face showed no emotion whatsoever and that scared Jamie more than anything.

"I know, I know Jack. Believe me though, I'm not kidding. This is one of Santa's globes, it'll take us there." He held it up and Jack had a moment of insight that was ripped away almost as quick as it appeared.

"What the heck, Jamie?" He asked, looking around like he was waiting for the cameras. "Am…am I dreaming?" He asked. Jamie suddenly got a panicked, brilliant idea.

"If it gets you to go along with this, yes. You're dreaming." He offered. Jack eyed him for a second then nodded.

"Oh well, what's the worst that can happen?" he asked, Jamie smashed the globe which had pictures of candy canes and yeti in it, and to his relief a portal opened. He waved them in and followed quickly.

When they emerged Nick got this wonder-filled look on his face that told Pitch he was remembering. He couldn't afford to wait.

"Mom!" Jamie ran to the couch where Pitch had placed her. Pitch opened an arm and to both parties eventual shock he almost bowled him over getting into his side. "Is she gonna be okay?" He asked, half hoping that just being there would help her. Pitch sighed, not wanting to tell him what was happening.

"She will live, Jamie. There is a slight problem, but Sand Man can fix it when he returns shortly." He offered. "That is, if he's not to pre-occupied with trying to murder me on sight." He mused. Jamie looked up at him, confusion turning to understanding rather quickly.

"I'll help." He offered.

"Alright, I'm holding you to that." He teased. "Fair warning though, he's scary when he's mad."

"I know, I've seen it." He giggled, looking back to his mom, then Pitch once before sighing acceptingly. "So what do we need to do?" He asked.

"Well, I need the guardians to help me open the bottom of this little stand here where this pretty stone is. It's called the moonstone." He explained, knowing the others had quickly crowded around in confusion.

"How?" He asked.

"Well, mostly by being here. Kids? Can we circle up around that pretty stone there? Careful, don't get too close." He cautioned. He looked up to see Jack looking at him like he was nuts.

"Okay, so maybe this is another really weird dream, but it doesn't feel the same." He offered.

"That's because it isn't a dream this time." Pitch explained. He watched Jack struggle with that for a second, then realize that if he wasn't dreaming then Jessica Bennett was in real trouble.

"Is she-"

"She'll be alright, Jack. If we move quickly." He offered.

"What do you mean? What are we supposed to do?" he asked, clearly torn.

"Jack, you are not Jackson Overland Bunnymund. Your name is Jackson Overland Frost. Jack Frost. You're the guardian of Fun and spirit of winter. These are the other guardians. You've done an amazing job, but right now I need you to understand what's happening, even if you don't believe it. I need you to work with me." He plead calmly, explaining what he could. "We need to gather around and the Moon is going to use our combined presence here as a key to unlock the pedestal that the moonstone is on. It serves as a conduit for the magical portion of his power. The stone is just for communication." He tacked on because the moonstone thing had confused him at first, and he figured Jack was having a harder time than he had.

"Wait. I'm…who now?" He asked, still stuck on his life being a lie.

"Jack Frost. You were given false memories of a human life so you didn't go insane when you were dumped into one." Pitch explained calmly.

"So…I didn't live that life at all?" He asked.

"Only when you moved into that apartment and on." He confirmed.

"But…" He was having the roughest time with it, and rather than push him for time they didn't have, he took a deep breath and put his hands on his shoulders.

"Alright, I know, breathe. Try to remember that dream, because in it, you were yourself." He tried. Jack strained to remember all that was different about him in the dream. Pitch actually harnessed Tooth's magic to give him a little boost and it hit him like a semi. He actually stumbled, Pitch had to steady him.

"Holy crap!" Jack shook his head and looked at Pitch in disbelief. "So…you-" He started but Jessica gave a horrible, gut wrenching cry of fear in her now fitful sleep.

"We've got to move." He prompted. Jack nodded, knowing what he needed to do.

"Alright kiddos, circle up." He instructed the still childlike guardians. "Wow…I did grow, didn't I?" He chuckled, seeing himself. "And you shrank." He couldn't help himself. He was Jack Frost again, and he felt like he could cheer.

"Jamie, stay with her." Pitch instructed. Jamie nodded and squeezed his mom's hand a little tighter.

"Come on Mani, let's get us back to normal now please." Jack grinned. To be honest there was a part of him still in there from the spell that changed him in the first place that didn't believe this but the larger part of him was prepared to go with it.

A shadow crossed the moon and Pitch's heart dropped.

"Jack! Boogey is here, I'm going to fight him off, keep the circle!" Pitch called over the now near deafening noise of the concerned Yeti rushing into the area where the moonstone was to try to help defend them. Mani's light crossed them and Jack saw a little silver light come from seemingly nowhere around each child, then himself, and the base of the pedestal the stone was on rotated so that several smaller silver gems were aligned. He guessed that meant it was "open" now.

They could hear the battle around them but that just made them cling to each other tighter. Mani's light washed over them and their worlds went black.

Pitch, on the other hand, was swinging a double-edged long-sword he hadn't used in ages like he had never put it down. He was in front of Jamie, killing the nightmares he used to control. This was no longer the case, and he was nearly breathless trying to keep up. He saw the blinding moonbeams around the five unconscious Guardians and prayed that they were safe under the moon's light.

Jessica and Jamie Bennett weren't touched by even a single nightmare, and the Yeti were protecting the guardians but soon Pitch was running out of fight and Yeti were falling unconscious on the floor. Jamie swatted a nightmare away which became a dream and Pitch started to wield dream sand.

As it happened the very first Guardian to open their newly aged eyes was Sandy. What did he see? Pitch. Fighting nightmares with a golden long-sword with Jamie at his side, changing them to dreams that Pitch was using to fight with.

A nightmare charged the little man who tried to fight but found his magic wasn't really up and running yet. Rather than being trampled like he thought he would be a golden whip snatched the vile thing away from him and a sword sliced it in half. Pitch, panting and winded, called to him.

"Sand Man! Are you alright?" He called. Sandy, still looking confused, gave him a reluctant thumbs-up.

"Okay, I know this is strange but we need your help!" He called, waving him over as he slashed a nightmare. Boogey's voice could be heard, whispering to him in a voice only Pitch could understand but it was clear he was ignoring him.

Sandy rushed to his side, seeing that the others were asleep but heavily guarded by Yeti. He could feel his magic returning but having another person who could share it was a strange sensation. He looked between Jamie and Pitch in confusion.

"Jamie, can you elaborate while-" He cut off to slash a nightmare which caught him in the gut.

"Sandy! Mom got knocked out by…who was it Pitch?" He asked.

"Boogey." He spat the name like a curse and suddenly Sandy understood. He looked at Pitch with cautious optimism and wonder for a moment before registering what was wrong and rushing to Mrs. Bennett. He worked as fast as he could to dispel the nightmares from her and she fell into a coma-like sleep which was filled with wonderful dreams. She would wake up when Sandy woke her, but for now he decided asleep was the best thing for her to be.

"Thanks Sandy!" Jamie almost knocked him over in a relieved and thankful hug which Sandy was happy to return. He pulled back and motioned for the boy to get behind him, he would protect him. He nodded and sat beside his mom protectively and Sandy's focus returned to Pitch. He floated up to eye-level and gave him a questioning look.

"Boogey's free. I was…diluting him when he was…inside me but…Mani…he got him out…of me. Now we need to…to trap him again. I'll tell you the rest..later." He offered, very out of breath from having to fight with another's magic. Sandy nodded his understanding and, given that he could plainly see Boogey and that Jamie seemed to trust him, his belief.

Sandy took a big breath, cracked his knuckles and the sand started to fly. With his help they were able to lure Boogey out where Sandy landed a lucky shot and knocked him out.

Within the space of a few moments Jack was up first and was quick to catch on.

"Sandy! We're back to normal! What's going on?" he asked quickly. Sandy shot up a few signs and he nodded.

"I won't lie, I thought you'd kill me before you listened." Pitch admitted semi-bashfully. Sandy chuckled and shrugged. He signed and Jack translated.

"He says, you can use his magic and that wouldn't be possible if you were still fused with Boogey, or if you were lying." Pitch just looked amazed.

"Well, I guess that's convenient then." He offered, keeping a wary eye on the room. "Well let's wake them up." He nodded to the four, still snoring.

"Allow me." Jack grinned wickedly. He dumped piles of snow on their heads. Surprisingly it didn't work.

"I can't do this, oh Moon." Pitch managed through laughter, he was doubled over and Sandy was finding it infectious. Jack had to admit, this Pitch was starting to grow on him.

"Guys…" Jamie sounded worried and when they turned to look at him, sobering, they noticed Boogey's shadowy form leaning over the still unconscious North.

**There you have it, another chapter! Granted I'm writing all of these where I don't have the internet to post them and you're getting about four or five at once, but there you go! Please let me know what you think and you are all wonderful people! :)**


	16. Chapter 16-Discovered

**Chapter sixteen-Discovered**

"North!" Jack called, rushing toward the still un-moving guardian of wonder. Pitch launched himself immediately to Jack's side, slashing at Boogey with the renewed enthusiasm that only came from pure terror. He couldn't let them get hurt, couldn't. Jack wasn't just someone he had grown fond of as a guardian, he was a child!

"Jack, look out!" He called, fabricating and launching a golden dagger at Boogey. Jack ducked and took half a second to give Pitch an impressed and stunned look before turning to North. Started shaking the man's shoulders and within a moment or two he sat up straight, looking a bit confused.

"Jack? What is racket? How did we end up in here?" he asked sleepily. Jack spun warily, looking for the shadows that now fabricated the nightmares and Pitch waved him on.

"Focus Jack, you get them up and I'll take care of them!" He offered. Sandy nodded, floating on the other side of the couch, covering Pitch. He wasn't all that good at waking people up anyway. Jack nodded and turned to North.

"I know it's a bit nutty out here but can you please trust me when I say it all makes perfect sense and you need to not kill Pitch." Jack plead, short and to the point. North's eyes widened, seeing Pitch and Sandy fighting back to back. He opened and shut his mouth once or twice and nodded.

"Had better be good." He grumbled a warning and shook the sleep out of his system as a nightmare made of shadows, not sand, slammed into Jack from behind.

"Jack!" His worried, boisterous yell woke Bunny who had been curled up beside him. He growled in anger, seeing Pitch. Noting that North was busy protecting an unconscious Jack he immediately assumed Pitch was the cause but he didn't look like he was fighting with Sandy, which gave him a headache. He shot up and shook his fur out, trying to make sense of things.

"What in the bloody…Tooth, come on wake up, sheila." He shook her shoulder, already pulling out a boomerang. She had been snuggling him in her sleep which he almost chuckled at, he made a mental note to laugh later.

"Bunny? What's going on?" She asked in a loopy sort of state. It was the slowest he had ever seen her move. Ever.

"I'm not sure, but Jamie's here and we need to keep him safe." He provided, deciding his priority was the child.

Unfortunately he decided to kick Pitch's butt and ask questions later.

Sandy noted his throwing stance and Tooth's newly dawned scowl in their direction about the same time he dispersed enough nightmares to see that Jack was down for the count.

_Oh boy, this is about to get interesting._ The golden man thought in exasperation.

Pitch gave out a frustrated yell as the shadow of Boogey, unseen in the chaos, slipped into…

"JACK! NO!" He launched himself at the shadow but was cut off by a livid Pooka and a screaming Fary. Bunny's boomerang knocked all the air out of him and sent him to the ground.

Jamie was sitting stunned, unable to really say anything. Everyone was fighting everyone else and with Boogey's presence in the room he had been stunned into fearful inaction. Sandy didn't have time to assure the boy before he jumped in. He snatched his friends by the waist and yanked them away from Pitch before he could get killed. He cracked an eye open from the preemptive cringe he had landed in and breathed out in relief. Then he remembered Jack.

"Sandy, he's in Jack! We've got to get him out before-"

"PITCH! What are you doin' here ya-" Bunny cut Pitch off and Sandy cut Bunny off with a satisfying crack of a golden whip. His big green eyes bugged out when the gold snapped in front of him. Tooth didn't even open her mouth.

He looked back at Jamie and shot him a semi-worried reassuring grin/cringe combo. Jamie returned the look, glancing around to see the nightmares gone. North was sitting with an unconscious Jack in his lap, silent and frozen.

For a moment time stood still and they all just waited. It was then that Jamie decided he should probably cut in, and with Boogey's nightmares gone he was able to manage his fear and run straight to Sandy. The golden man gave him a soft smile and a nod toward the others, indicating that he should go ahead and explain.

"Guys…Pitch is here to help." He offered, waiting for one of his childhood idols to straight up tell him he was a liar and when that didn't happen he took another breath and continued. "Mani made you guys kids and Jack took care of you. Pitch had to do your jobs and he found the way to get you guys normal again. He's not the Boogeyman anymore, right Pitch?" He asked, looking to him for help where he was still seated, frankly winded enough that standing wasn't looking good anyway.

"Right Jamie. Boogey is the living embodiment of Fear. The only reason I can use shadows was because a long time ago he did to me what he just did to Jack, only…willingly. I thought I could harness his magic, my own gone, to help the children and I was wrong. He's gone from me now, so essentially I'm not who you all know, that's him. Now he's inside of Jack and if we don't get him out soon he's in trouble." He provided, as calm as he could be under all that panic.

"How?" North asked, seeing the look in Pitch's eyes and knowing he wasn't lying. _Besides, I remember the look on his face before Bunny stopped him. That was fear for another and that can't be faked. _The relief on his face when he asked how was also not hurting his belief. It was such a sincere look he couldn't have been lying.

"I don't know. All I can think to do is absorb him into myself, as I've hosted him before, and lock down on him until we can trap him in the moonstone where he had been before." Pitch admitted.

"But if you do that won't he take over again?" Jamie fretted.

"Don't worry, he can't take over an unwilling host, and I'm not letting him take over again." He assured.

"Well, what's gonna happen to Jack?" he asked.

"Nothing if I move fast enough." Pitch gave him a reassuring grin and eyed the others warily as he got up. Interestingly enough they were eyeing Sandy in much the same way.

"It smells like a trick, North." Bunny commented. Sandy shook his head in disbelief.

"He's not lying!" Jamie insisted again. Bunny looked at the boy and then Sandy who was nodding. North tore his eyes from the boy in his arms to meet Jamie's eyes.

"Jack believed him, Sandy believes him, we know Jamie does, and so do I." North said plainly.

Pitch knelt down to where Jack was sitting.

"We don't." Bunny stood up, Tooth fluttering behind him. They both had their arms crossed and Sandy's eyes were wide.

"Look. I don't expect you to like me, or believe me, or care about a word I'm saying. I don't deserve it after all that time. I was stupid enough to let Boogey in, and that's my mistake. Even not being in control of myself doesn't absolve that stupidity and all that blood and fear is as much on my stupid hands as his. I don't expect to immediately be one of you, or for any of you to listen to a word I say ever again." He said, trying to control his anger. "But let me tell you this, I won't let Jack get hurt because you carry a grudge." He turned to Jack and Sandy stood at his back, daring them to try something.

"Are you certain about this?" North asked as he reached out, feeling Jack's rising temperature.

"Yes. It's all I can think of. I don't know that it'll work, but I have to try." He offered. North nodded. He knew he had acted too quickly when Jack had so directly begged him to listen. He knew better than to doubt Jack. _Well, it was good._

Pitch leaned in, hands on Jack's temples. As light started to swirl around the three of them Bunny's fur and Tooth's feathers both started to bristle. Tooth watched Pitch and started to doubt herself, but the worry for Jack and her memories of all that he had caused the boy before kept her on guard. All he had done to them over the years flooded her mind and she just couldn't let that go. _People don't change this much this fast…do they?_

Pitch grunted in frustration and started to lose his balance. North reached out a hand and took his arm, steadying him. Sandy had turned to them, watching with a concerned frown with Jamie hanging onto his arm. He hadn't realized he was clinging to him until just then. He looked down and opened an arm for the boy which he quickly snuggled into.

Tooth had landed and Bunny was on his toes, boomerangs ready.

"You can't win this." Boogey's rasping voice rang out in defiance of being lifted from his newest host. Jack started to squirm in his "sleep" uncomfortably.

"I already have." Pitch gritted. "You can't control me anymore and as long as I breathe you'll never leave that moonstone again."

"You underestimate me, Guardian." Boogey growled.

"Do I?" He asked, clearly exhausted.

"You don't know my true power."

"Yes I do. In a way you helped me, controlling me all those centuries ago. Because now I know. I know your limits, your power, your way of thinking, and I know there's one thing you can't stand. One thing…" He trailed off, determination coloring his voice.

"And what is that?" The grating voice was a little more concerned now, bravado slipping away.

"Sunburn." He gritted as acidly as he could while lighting up as much golden sand as he could manage. Sandy lit up, knowing what was needed as he helped Pitch encompass himself, Jack and North in a cocoon of light. "You're like a bad cliché." Pitch taunted.

A dark figure rose from Jack, scrambling to escape the light which created quite a bit of smoke.

"YOU CAN'T REJECT MY CONTROL! YOU CAN'T DENY MY POWER JAMES FROST!" Boogey screamed in fury as he was forced into Pitch, who immediately collapsed in a crumpled, shaky, overheated heap.

**Sorry this one's a bit shorter but this was the chunk I was imagining at the time and it seemed to be the perfect stopping point, dun dun duuuuuuuuuun! Sorry for the cliffie! **

**Okay, now to a liiiiiiiitle 'business'; I haven't been doing this but I feel like it's time to start. I've gotten six whole reviews on this short little bit of story and that's more than I had hoped for so I'm going to start responding because y'all are so wonderful! I can't help but be excited when y'all review and it keeps these stories comin'! These are oldest-newest and when I saw them pretty much all of them made my day! **

**Sprinkles888-(CH 3)-Thank you so much!**

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**write that wrong-(CH 9/15)- Ohmygoodness thank you! That means a lot! Also, I don't know how but you read my mind on one of those points, and I won't say which one and ruin it! **

**abrocks1234-(CH 15)- Thanks, I'm so glad you're enjoying!**

**Once again thank you, y'all are wonderful people! :) **


	17. Chapter 17-Chatterbox

**Chapter seventeen-Chatterbox **

"What?" That was all the eloquence North could gather in his state of shock that the others would understand. He was thinking a million miles an hour but it was in a garbled Russian that would have been mostly unintelligible. Tooth had fluttered to the ground, realizing that maybe, just maybe she was wrong. Jamie was peeking around Sandy, who felt the pull of someone slipping to unconsciousness from one direction and consciousness behind him. Pitch (James?) was quickly losing his grip on the waking world which, if his fight to stay awake was any indication, was bad.

"Pitch?" Jamie ventured quietly. He grunted as he pushed himself into a sitting position and what they saw shocked them silent…well more so.

"What? What is it?" He asked, noting the stunned stares from all but Bunny, who was mostly just scowling. Sandy and Tooth had touched down.

"You…look really different now." Jamie supplied. Pitch looked down at himself and found a modern-clad version of what he would have worn, faded work jeans, black boots and a black T-shirt. What could he say, he was the guardian of courage and black was slimming. He didn't ask what the rest of him looked like, just turned back to Jack and checked his temperature with a still unsteady hand. Whatever he found there caused a relieved breath that had his shoulders dropping significantly.

"He's going back to normal." He informed a still too-shocked-to-do-much North. When Pitch said that, North snapped out of his haze and checked the boy's temperature himself, relieved as Pitch was. Jack started to stir in North's arms and no one quite knew what to do.

"What happened, Pitch?" Tooth asked gently, calmly. She sounded much more likely to believe everything and Pitch turned, cautiously optimistic. Bunny felt the little rise in a desperate-type hope rising from the man and he had to shove down a feeling of pity. He finally felt his hope, not because he hadn't been paying attention before but because he had been completely devoid of it from the moment he had been conscious to detect it. _Don't feel bad for 'im. He's the bloody Boogeyman and I smell a rat._ He ranted again in his mind. Although watching Tooth's eyes soften started to make him wonder who he was trying to convince with that thought. Why was he having to make himself stay angry.

"I absorbed him…all that needs done now…is to trap him in the moonstone, which frankly I can't remember how we did that, or…where the spell is but…but I know it's in one of the spell books, around here. Has to be." He offered, stitch in his side from all the power he had just used making him more and more winded. Jack finally managed to pry his eyes open and opened his mouth in question only to be met with a yawn.

"Jamie?" A familiar voice cut through all the tension and had every head turning to where Jessica Bennett had sat up on the couch. She was giving the group a wide-eyed look and North noted that his center radiated from the woman who's eyes were lit up like Christmas Trees. Wonder.

"Mom!" Jamie wasted no time launching into the offered hug of his mom. She tilted her head to the side, trying to figure something out and then she just laughed. It was a friendly, tinkling laugh that had everyone smiling.

"It looks like you were right, kiddo. Remind me to never question you crazy stories, kay?" She ginned, giving him another fierce hug. Jack, who had detangled himself from North gently, with a little 'I'm good, thank you' smile was walking up to Jamie and his mom with a huge smile.

"Well, there goes all the tension." He teased lightly, nudging Jamie's arm. "Good job kiddo." He complimented and Jessica looked at him with a confused frown.

"Jack?" She asked, causing him to freeze.

"You…you can see me? I thought maybe something with the dream-sand…but…" He couldn't wrap his mind around it. She chuckled and that smile was the warmest smile he had ever seen on anyone in his long life.

"I've always been able to see you, Jack." The look on the eternal child's face made her heart melt. "It's the others that are news to me." She leaned around him and grinned. "No offense."

"None taken." Tooth chimed, dragging a chuckle from Sandy and North.

Jack was still too speechless.

"So, what did he call you, when he was absorbed?" North asked Pitch, offering him a hand up which he hesitantly accepted. Pitch frowned at nothing for a second before remembering and making an 'aha' face.

"Oh, it was my original, human name." He supplied, looking a bit better but North could tell the smaller man was using every ounce of his self-control to speak normally. He nodded thoughtfully and nodded toward a sofa.

"James Frost?" He asked as he half-limped the few steps to the couch and all but collapsed. Over on the next sofa, by the broad fireplace, Jamie, Jack and Jessica were lost in their own world. They had been talking about all the things that had happened and apologizing to Jamie for the time he spent with all of them not believing. They had scared the crap out of the boy for a while there. Just about the time they were getting into 'remember when they did that?' and snickering as they stole glances at the others North said that name and he stopped, turning with a single eyebrow hiding under his hair.

"What? Who's that?" Jack asked, using the wind to fly over to the small circle gathering, landing lightly on one foot and bouncing once before settling.

"That would be me." Pitch offered. Jack, getting a solid look at the man finally, noted quite a few things that would make that statement interesting. He had mocha brown eyes, like his sister had and like he used to, and also part of his brain registered Jamie and his mother. His hair was similarly a dark brown, like theirs. He looked like an older version of Jack as a human and suddenly he had to wonder.

"Well that's interesting." Jack commented casually as the Bennetts gathered around to join them, knowing most of the immediate danger was gone. "'Cause Frost isn't a common surname." He offered with a smirk, plopping down on the ground in the circle by the couch with his staff across his lap casually.

"That's very true." An impressed tone colored Pitch's voice. "You know what that name bled out into?" He asked.

"Partly, genealogy doesn't really go back far enough to track some of them." Jack nodded.

"Well, it's really entertaining, there's a whole book on it somewhere if you can find it. It might not be in English but it's got all the original surnames and where they ended up through history. It's a spirit's book so it won't be in a library but I think I know where it is, if you're interested." He offered. Jack nodded excitedly.

"Yeah! That could be interesting, find out where our names came from and what they almost were." He chuckled. Pitch's eyes glittered with joy as the boy laughed, it was music.

"Well, I hate to break up the bloody love-fest but we have a problem, mates." Bunny's grumpier-than-usual voice cut through the laughter like a hot knife through butter.

"Bunny!" Tooth chided. Pitch, now James, held up a hand to Tooth politely.

"No, he's right. We need to get Boogey somewhere he can't do any more damage. I don't know what he can do inside an unwilling host but I'm not too keen on finding out." He defended. Bunny bristled, that wasn't the problem he had been talking about, they thought. He looked mad, but that look slowly faded as his intent mint eyes searched the calm mocha ones of Pitch. He felt a fragile hope, not unlike that of Jack's when they had met, starting to crumble as he maintained his bristled appearance. Suddenly it hit him, the absolute purity of that hope and how he was shattering it.

He deflated and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Bloody right, we don't want that nasty piece o' work runnin' 'round here again, do we mates?" He asked the group and tried to contain the smile that tugged at his face and threatened his gruff appearance when Pitch's hope slammed him like a brick wall. It was so full, so strong that he couldn't help feeling like an arse of the highest caliber for doubting him.

"Right, kangaroo." Jack smirked.

"I'm not a bloody kangaroo, Frostbite." Bunny grumbled but there was no heat in it.

"What do we do?" North asked, pulling up a chair and taking Jack's lead. Tooth fluttered onto a small armchair beside the couch and Jamie plopped down beside Pitch with his mom on his other side. Bunny sat on the floor by Jack with Sandy between him and North, completing the wall-eyed circular thing they had formed.

"A spell to pull him out of me and a spell to trap him. It doesn't have to be the moonstone but that's what we did last time and I know how to do that. Problem is it has a slight chance of letting pieces of him out." He offered a little quieter, straining.

"What are we looking for?" Tooth asked, "I'll help."

"Spell of casting, and spell of binding." He was trying not to grit his teeth and it was becoming obvious he was in pain. He shook his head and scowled at nothing, looking a bit frustrated.

"Hey, you okay?" Jack asked. Pitch shook his head out, ran a hand through his hair and blinked over at Jack for a second.

"Oh…he's just a bit of a chatterbox, that's all." He offered with a grin. Jack looked skeptical.

"He's talking?" Bunny asked, concerned.

"Yes. He does that." Pitch rolled his eyes at the entity inside him. That was a weird thought. He growled a bit in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Come on North, let's go." Tooth got up, suddenly much more urgent about the matter. North cringed when the man doubled over and nodded to Tooth.

"Right. Faster we find spell, faster he is gone from him." They could hear his boots all the way to his library and for a few moments the only sound was that of his labored breathing. Sandy frowned and tugged Jack's sleeve, knowing he would understand much quicker than the others.

"Yeah?" He asked.

Sandy set off in a blur of symbols that Jack just barely caught, indicating Pitch, a question and sleep.

"I don't know, hey, would it help you to be asleep?" Jack asked. Pitch straightened out as best he could and shook his head.

"I have to be…awake." He offered, out of breath again.

"Well, we should figure something out. We don't know how long it will be before they've got what we need." Jessica offered, watching in sympathy as Pitch tried to maintain both a grip on the ancient evil inside him and his composure. Something was going to have to give soon.

"I think I might have somethin' that'll help. You allergic to anythin', mate?" Bunny asked, completely forgetting his earlier gruffness. A shake of the head told him no and he opened a rabbit hole to his warren. "Alright, I think I have a medicated tea that'll take the edge off." He offered. As he hopped down the hole Pitch shot him a grateful look.

As he ruffled through his cabinets much more urgently than he would ever admit to later he thought about that look. A calm settled through him as he realized that their oldest enemy wasn't really even who they thought it was, and that soon they'd be rid of him. The irony of the reason that was possible didn't escape him either. When he was finished he tossed more than a few backup plans in his pouch, just in case the tea didn't do it.

"This is, by a wide margin, the least likely chain of events I can think of." He muttered with a chuckle as he raced back to the pole, again with an urgency he would deny until the day he died.

**I was planning on making Bunny hate him for a very long time, but I just couldn't. Knowing who these characters are I couldn't make him so blind, but I can make him bullheaded.****He really took care of that all by himself. **** Also please let me know how y'all feel about the treatment of the name-change. ****I'm trying to make it gradual, and everyone's still really shocked and maybe it's more obvious than my paranoid brain is thinking but let me know. :) ****There it is though! Hope you like, please let me know the good, the bad and the ugly, all that.**

**On another note; abroks1234- Thank you so much and I'm so happy you're enjoying reading as much as I am writing. I appreciate you.**

**Y'all are wonderful people! :) **


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